This follows the earlier approval for the appraisal plan for the shallow-water Zama oil discovery by CNH, the Mexican oil and gas regulator.
The program includes three new reservoir penetrations and should be completed by mid-2019.
Zama-2, the first of these wells, will also be deepened by around 500 m (1,640 ft) to test the Marte prospect, at an estimated cost of roughly $10 million.
