In December 2005, the quest to drill into the Gulf began with the intent to replace the dwindling supply of oil from the
Cantarell field.
Pemex, a Mexican petroleum company, began their first deepwater research and discovered Noxal and Lakach. Noxal, located in the
Catemaco Folded Belt, was the first ever deepwater oil well found by Pemex. The news about this discovery went public in 2006. When tests were conducted at four different intervals, they confirmed the well was indeed filled with natural gas, containing 10 billion barrels of oil. After the success of the Noxal oil field, Pemex drilled into the second oil field it discovered,
Lakach. Noxal and Lakach are just a few of many oil fields that have been discovered and ready to be drilled into so Pemex can bring these gases to land. However, at the time of the discovery of both of these oil fields, Pemex encountered issues due to having no knowledge or experience with deepwater drilling. Pemex was also not allowed to have outside help due to the nationalization of oil reserves in Mexico. This was one of the reasons for the country's decline in the production of oil in the first place. While Noxal was announced as a major oil field, it turned out to be non-existent or unprofitable for development. ==Drilling==