Mexico - February 2026

Mexican magnate Carlos Slim’s Grupo Carso conglomerate has continued a recent run of investments in the country’s energy sector. In February the conglomerate signed another contract with state-run oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), while in January it agreed to acquire Fieldwood Mexico, the local subsidiary of Russian oil firm Lukoil. This all comes as Slim looks to take advantage of a new appetite for private investment in strategic projects.

Slim, who made his fortune in telecoms before diversifying into a wide range of different industries, confirmed the new Pemex contract on 10 February. The joint venture is for the development of the onshore Macavil field in southern Mexico, which has proven reserves of 33.7m barrels of condensate and 409.1bn cubic feet of natural gas, according to Grupo Carso’s quarterly results report. The contract, signed by the conglomerate’s Zamajal subsidiary, guarantees Pemex at least a 40% stake in the field, which was discovered in 2024.

This came after the purchase of Fieldwood Mexico in January. Also made through Zamajal, the purchase was agreed at a total cost of US$600m, comprising US$270m to purchase Fieldwood and US$330m in debts that the company held with its parent. The deal means that Slim’s firm acquires Fieldwood Mexico’s 50% stake in the Ichalkil and Pokoch oil fields, which are located near the coast of Campeche state in the Gulf of Mexico. Grupo Carso previously acquired a 50% stake in the two fields, meaning that the company will now become the sole operator, which are strategically located in a historically productive area where shallow waters mean that oil is easier and cheaper to extract compared to deep water oil fields. Altogether, the two fields produce an estimated 11,451 barrels of oil per day.

These acquisitions follow other agreements between Grupo Carso and state-owned oil firm Pemex, including a US$2bn deal to finance the drilling of 32 onshore natural gas wells at the Ixachi field in Veracruz state, which was announced in September 2025. The Ixachi field is one of the most important natural gas finds in Mexico in recent decades. In July 2024, Grupo Carso and Pemex also formed a partnership to develop the deepwater Lakach gas field in the Gulf of Mexico, around 98km southeast of the city of Veracruz. The US$1.2bn contract was signed following the collapse of a previous deal between Pemex and US energy firm New Fortress Energy due to disagreements over terms. And in May 2023, Grupo Carso acquired a 49.9% stake in the Mexican subsidiary of US oil and gas firm Talos Energy, before acquiring a further 30.1% stake in the company in December 2024. These acquisitions give Slim’s firm access to the strategic Zama oilfield, a shallow water project off the coast of Tabasco, which was discovered by Talos Energy but is operated by Pemex following years of legal wrangling.

Slim’s growing interest in the energy sector has come after a period of mounting problems at Pemex, which has long been heavily indebted and struggled to maintain production levels despite Mexico’s vast reserves of oil and gas. In 2013, energy reforms passed by former president Enrique Peña Nieto (2012-2018) ended Pemex’s monopoly and allowed private-public partnerships in the energy sector for the first time in decades. The idea was to boost production by allowing foreign capital and technology into the sector, and a swathe of deals worth billions of dollars were signed in the following years, including agreements between Grupo Carso and Pemex. However, these changes were effectively reversed when former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), a vehement opponent of the energy reform, came to power and pivoted back to resource nationalism. This discouraged private investors from growing their presence in the energy sector, including international oil majors, making Slim a notable outlier as his firm continued to make deals with Pemex. 

In November 2024, President Claudia Sheinbaum enacted a constitutional reform which reinforces public control of the energy sector [EB-24-11]. She has also revealed plans to develop new oil fields producing as many as 450,000 barrels per day by 2030 as part of a drive to become energy self-sufficient, while recognising that Pemex’s high level of debt means that the company will need private partners in order to do so. Sheinbaum has also worked to cultivate a relationship with Slim who, between 2013 and September 2025, has signed 17 contracts with Pemex via his companies worth a total M$118.9bn (US$6.9bn), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. His firms have also been involved in significant government projects such as the Tren Maya tourist railway.

This willingness to work with the leftist Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena) party since it was elected to the presidency in 2018 marks Slim out from other Mexican magnates such as Germán Larrea and Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who have had more difficult relations with both López Obrador and Sheinbaum. Although some critics have questioned whether Slim and his firms have benefitted disproportionately from this proximity to government power, Grupo Carso’s finance chief Arturo Spinola revealed in July that Pemex, the most heavily indebted oil company in the world, owes the conglomerate over US$700m.

Looking ahead, the fact that Fieldwood Mexico was owned by Russian firm Lukoil means that the acquisition must be supervised by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) because of sanctions imposed on Russia due to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Ofac recently extended a deadline for Lukoil to sell its interests in international oil fields to 28 February. It must also be approved by Mexican regulators.

More widely, Slim may be betting that his firms can benefit from Sheinbaum’s goal of boosting oil production by using mixed public-private contracts to develop new oil fields as neither Pemex nor the government has the necessary funds to do so. He could also benefit from a drive to reduce Mexico’s reliance on imports of natural gas from the US amid ongoing tensions with US President Donald Trump, and there are high hopes for the Lakach gas field.

Slim remains one of the richest people in Latin America, so Grupo Carso has the financial muscle to deal with the risks involved in the energy sector. His recent investments align with growing investor interest in energy, mining, and infrastructure at a time of geopolitical instability that threatens existing supply chains, a situation which appears likely to persist due to the ongoing trade war between the US and China. The firm has also developed experience and technical expertise through existing operations and recent acquisitions, making it an attractive partner for a government that cannot afford to waste time or money.

However, a number of factors will influence the performance of Grupo Carso’s energy investments, and whether Pemex succeeds in turning its fortunes around. The first is the detail of the aforementioned mixed contracts, and then there is also the potential for further changes to Mexican government policy governing the energy sector, which Slim may believe that he can influence by leveraging his relationship with the ruling party. Other factors, he cannot hope to steer in his favour, including international oil and gas prices, as well as Trump’s trade and investment policy. Therefore, while Slim appears well placed to leverage his enormous wealth and political influence to make his energy investments a success, Grupo Carso, Pemex, and the Mexican energy sector are also exposed to considerable risks.

Slim

“Carlos Slim doesn’t make moves until he sees a business or project is profitable,” energy consultant Ramses Pech told British newspaper the Financial Times in an article published in September 2025. “He started with equipment, services…his company has been growing little by little.”