Malaysia’s Petronas and U.S. major ExxonMobil have joined the growing wave of oil companies focusing their attention on Mexico’s burgeoning offshore opportunities.

Following on from BHP Billiton’s agreement with Pemex (see “BHP Connects With Pemex” story), the Malaysian national oil company quickly followed suit with news that it had inked agreements with Pemex (and also Argentina’s national oil company YPF) to grow its business in the Americas.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and co-operation agreement for further business opportunities and mutual co-operation between Petronas and Pemex was signed by Petronas President and Group CEO, Shamsul Azhar Abbas, and Pemex’s currently very busy Director General, Emilio Lozoya Austin.

“With this, Petronas and Pemex will explore appropriate mechanisms through which there will be an exchange of experience, knowledge and best practices for activities related to deepwater projects, mature fields, heavy and extra heavy crudes, as well as the possibility to develop projects related to natural gas and infrastructure,” said Petronas in a press statement.

Petronas and Pemex also signed a tripartite MoU with YPF, covering the sharing of experiences and best practices related to oil and gas exploration and production.

ExxonMobil, meanwhile, signed its MoU with Pemex covering a 3-year period to exchange academic, scientific and technical knowledge. The companies agreed to analyze exploration, drilling and refining opportunities, according to a statement from Pemex.

Others who have already signed similar deals or technology alliances previously with Pemex include Chevron, Noble Energy, BP and Statoil, among others.