RIL makes Mexico foray

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has signed an agreement with Mexico´s State-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) for investment in the exploration and refinery sectors in that country. About three months ago, ONGC Videsh Ltd, too, had also signed a similar agreement with a Pemex upstream company. With lower realisation on oil and gas production and domestic production falling, the upstream segment is the only one of RIL´s businesses for which earnings before interest and tax fell in the quarter ended September. At Rs 818 crore, it declined 14 per cent compared to the year-ago period and 21 per cent compared to the June quarter this year. Besides shale gas assets in the US, RIL has 13 blocks in its international conventional portfolio, including two in Peru, three in Yemen (one producing and two exploratory), two each in Oman, Kurdistan and Colombia, and one each in East Timor and Australia, amounting to a total area of 99,145 sq km.