Saudi Arabia and Mexico are working closely to push forward cooperation in the petroleum sector, said Mexican Ambassador Arturo Trejo here Sunday.

He said closer mutual cooperation would help realize mutual interest, as “Mexico has recently opened up its oil sector to foreign investment and there is also big potential in the petrochemicals and associated sectors.”

Trejo, who spoke about the progressively growing relations between the Kingdom and Mexico, underlined the importance of increasing investment in the oil sector to meet the growing demand for energy. To this end, he noted the growing presence of Mexican companies in Saudi Arabia. He pointed out a Mexican company has also won a contract for supplying industrial boilers to Saudi Aramco.

Mexico has extraordinary untapped natural resources. According to a report, the Latin American country has an estimated 545 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas and 13 billion barrels of shale oil. “Such projections indicate that any foreign partnership with Mexico can be mutually advantageous,” said the report.

Referring to cordial relations between the Kingdom and Mexico, Trejo said: “We have an excellent political relationship and we closely cooperate on several multilateral issues with the Kingdom.”

He said the Mexican foreign minister paid an official visit to Riyadh in March this year with a high level delegation precisely to “develop” this potential.

“We are now working closely … and it is likely that we will have a presidential visit very soon,” added Trejo, while referring to the forthcoming visit of the Mexican president to the Kingdom in the near future.

Our relations are far below their potentials on the commercial and cultural fronts, said the Mexican envoy. “We still need to do a lot of work on both sides to use the opportunities available,” he added.

The total two-way trade, he said, has been in the region of $1billion annually. Mexico mainly exports automobiles, spare parts and industrial equipment to Saudi Arabia, said the ambassador. Mexico still imports gasoline and other petroleum products from the Kingdom, said Trejo, while calling on both sides to step up efforts to forge closer ties in sectors like commerce, trade and culture.

The ambassador said that Mexico has been calling for “a diplomatic solution and respect of human rights” where key issues are concerned. Mexico is financially supporting the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, he noted.

“We support a two-state solution of the Palestinian question,” said the envoy, when asked about their official position on the Middle East peace process.