OREANDA-NEWS.   GE Oil & Gas (NYSE: GE) today announced it will provide vital surface equipment to Mexico’s national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos Exploracion y Produccion (PEMEX Exploration and Production) for use at its offshore project in the Ayatsil heavy oil field located in the Campeche Sound, in the Gulf of Mexico.

The multi-year contract includes the installation of GE’s surface wellheads and trees in new wells that will be drilled by PEMEX through the duration of the contract. PEMEX is focused on strengthening oil extraction in the Marine Zone, an area located within territorial waters near the coasts of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. PEMEX considers Ayatsil to be one of the fields that will help the company recover the historic production of the zone and continue to increase it in the coming years.

GE’s surface wellheads and trees will be manufactured at the company’s Ecatepec plant in Mexico City, which has been equipped with new high-end manufacturing equipment. Employees at the plant have received the required training to handle this type of advanced technology.

“These surface systems will be manufactured in Mexico, and therefore will have a high degree of local content,” said Antonio Ferreira, general manager, Latin America—Drilling & Surface for GE Oil & Gas. “In turn, this will contribute to the national industry’s growth that Mexico is looking to achieve.”

While the Ayatsil offshore project is GE’s largest contract currently underway in the Marine Zone, the company is also working with PEMEX on several other important initiatives. GE recently announced it is teaming up with PEMEX and the Mexico Institute of Petroleum to research and develop technologies to help improve productivity and efficiency in mature fields, develop deep and ultra-deep water projects, and modernize Mexico’s energy infrastructure.