Blanco announces $250 million Mexican oil firm deal

(AP) A Mexican energy company has agreed to a joint venture with a Louisiana firm to produce offshore platforms for Petroleos Mexicanos, the country’s state oil monopoly, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said last Wednesday.

The deal is expected to produce $250 million in Louisiana contracts and 300 jobs in the state, said Michael Olivier, Blanco’s economic development chief. The companies will get tax breaks in exchange for doing the work in Louisiana, though Olivier declined to say how much the tax relief was worth.

Lafayette-based Dynamic Industries Inc. will work with the Mexican firm Asin Inc. to produce the first platform in New Iberia. Future production will occur in Tabasco, a Mexican state on the Gulf of Mexico, officials with the two companies said at a signing ceremony in the state Capitol.

New, permanent jobs in Louisiana as a result of the deal will include advisers and people who train Mexican workers in the manufacturing process, Olivier said.

Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, plans to use the platforms in shallow-water oil and gas extraction in the Gulf, officials said.