The four-year exploration plan for the block in the Perdido Fold Basin just south of the U.S.-Mexico maritime border calls for drilling either one or two exploration wells in the block between October and next March, according to the CNH.

U.S. major ExxonMobil is an equity partner in the Total-led consortium, which won the development rights to Block 2 in Mexico's first deepwater oil auction in late 2016.

The 1,149-square-mile (2,976-square-kilometer) block is believed to contain some 1.440 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in mostly light and extra light crude as well as natural gas, according to energy ministry data.

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Stocks treated in this article : Total, Exxon Mobil Corporation