Mexico appears to sign gas fracking contract with US company

Mexico's state-owned oil company has signed what appears to be one of its first big gas fracking contracts with a subsidiary of the Texas-based Lewis Energy.

The Petroleos Mexicanos company said Monday it agreed with Lewis Energy Mexico to drill and exploit non-conventional gas deposits in the portion of the Eagle Ford shale formation in Mexico.

While Pemex did not mention fracking, it is the method commonly used to drill for gas in the Eagle Ford area.

Pemex said the contract involves about $617 million in investments and yields a potential gas production of 117 million cubic feet per day by 2021.

Detractors say fracking wells have already been drilled in Mexico, but the government has not released much information about them.