IDESA expects to soon extract crude from Tecolutla -CEO

 Mexico's Grupo IDESA, along with its Canadian partner, expects to start extracting barrels of crude from the Tecolutla field within months of signing a contract with Mexico's oil regulator, IDESA's chief executive officer said on Friday.

Tecolutla, auctioned off during one of Mexico's tenders under the new energy reform, is a mature on-shore field in Veracruz with proven, probable, and possible (3P) reserves of 0.1 million barrels of crude oil equivalent.

IDESA, which is focused on the petrochemical industry, and the Canadian company International Frontier Resources Corporation (IFR) initially came in second place in the auction.

But the consortium that won did not comply with requirements, which meant the Tecolutla contract was reassigned to Tonalli Energia, a joint venture between IDESA and IFR.

IDESA expects to officially sign the contract with the oil regulator, the National Hydrocarbons Commission, in the second half of August.

"We think that in six, maximum nine months (after signing) we will be extracting our first barrels of oil because it is a mature field that already has wells," Jose Luis Uriegas, IDESA CEO, told Reuters.

Uriegas also said that Tonalli expects to make an initial investment of between $10 million and $15 million to develop the field.

(Reporting by Adriana Barrera)