A recent announcement by Pemex chief executive Luis Ramirez about a potential 10-billion-barrel oil discovery in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico may have been a tad hasty, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Sankey. Pemex, Mexico's state-owned oil company, began drilling the Noxal exploration well in December in 3,067 feet of water, going as deep as 4,000 meters under the seabed. Mexico's president Vicente Fox was present during the declaration. "The announcement captured significant press coverage," Sankey says. "It also has drilling engineers sighing and muttering into their beer. With only one well drilled and not tested, the announcement would seem premature. We suspect that this is a political flourish to a raging election debate about private investment in Mexico's deep water." It isn't all a wash, however. A Wood Mackenzie report suggests the field is likely a few hundred million barrels, he adds. "It is clearly a positive indicator of Mexican deepwater potential, which we estimate contains up to 50 billion barrels of oil, and opens up a new play in the Coatzacoalcos region. "Future private investment for major oil remains in the hands of the electorate. In the meantime, likely beneficiaries are service names such as Schlumberger Ltd. and Veritas DGC Inc."