Australia's Billiton wins Mexico oilfield deal

Australian mining company BHP Billiton on Monday won a deal to explore for oil deep in the sea off Mexico, the country's state petroleum firm Pemex said.

BHP Billiton won the bidding to take a 60 percent stake in the Trion deep-sea oil field, partnering with Pemex which will hold 40 percent, the Mexican company said in a statement.

It is a key deal for Mexico as it looks to boost its flagging oil sector.

Pemex said it is the first time it has "farmed out" the management of an oil-drilling project to a foreign company.

Pemex estimates the Trio field in the Gulf of Mexico holds up to 485 million barrels of crude oil, though not of all that is proven reserves.

It hopes to start pumping oil from the sites in 2023.

The Mexican firm said the project will require $11 billion of investment.

President Enrique Pena Nieto enacted a landmark energy reform in 2014 that reopened the sector to private investors for the first time since 1938.

Hit by falling global oil prices, Pemex had said it is making $5.5 billion in budget cuts this year.

The government has injected $4.2 billion in liquidity to prop up the firm.