BP to drill first deepwater oil well in Mexican block in 2020

MEXICO CITY, March 20 (Reuters) - British oil major BPwill drill its first deepwater exploration well at ablock it operates in the southern Gulf of Mexico during thethird quarter of 2020, according to a plan approved Tuesday byMexican oil regulator CNH.

The four-year exploration plan for the block located in theGulf's Salina Basin is also expected to lead to an investment of$199.5 million and add up to 75 million barrels of oilequivalent in reserves, according to the CNH.

Norway's Statoil and France's Total are equity partners inthe BP-led consortium, which won the development rights to theblock in Mexico's first-ever deepwater oil auction in late 2016.(Reporting by David Alire Garcia)