
Carlos Slim Is Quietly Becoming Pemex's Partner of Last Resort
The transformation of Mexico's richest person into its most important oil baron came about slowly, almost subtly. Carlos Slim built up a stake in Talos Energy Inc. before flipping it for the company's Mexican unit. There was a 2023 deal for $530 million to buy a pair of oilfield assets from a fellow billionaire. Then a $1.2 billion plan to develop a gas deposit in the Gulf of Mexico.
Add it all up, and Slim has spent more than $2 billion to become the most prominent private partner to state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos — and, really, one of the only investors willing to do business with the heavily indebted, operationally challenged oil monopoly.
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