Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos, Latin America’s largest oil producer, should keep investing in the $11.1 billion Chicontepec development because it represents a “big opportunity” to stem the country’s production declines, said board member Hector Moreira.

The Mexico City-based board of Pemex, as the company is known, hasn’t yet decided whether the state-owned oil company should halt investing after the project missed its production targets, Moreira said today. A decision may be reached once the business plan is approved by year-end, he said.

“I would not stop investing in Chicontepec,” Moreira, 63, said in an interview in Mexico City. “This is such a big deposit that we have to keep investing to discover the right technology.”

Chief Executive Officer Juan Jose Suarez Coppel said the company “can’t abandon the Chicontepec work, no matter how complicated it is,” on Oct. 14, the day before a Pemex board meeting to discuss the project. Mexico’s Energy Minister and Pemex Chairwoman Georgina Kessel and board member Fluvio Ruiz Alarcon have said Chicontepec needs to be reassessed.

The company declined to comment on the board’s discussion after the meeting. Pemex’s board and management haven’t yet made a decision on Chicontepec.

Output from the Chicontepec field fell to 30,706 barrels a day in August. Pemex previously said it expected a “jump” in August production at Chicontepec by about a third to 40,000 barrels a day, and 60,000 by year’s end.

Moreira said that Pemex may opt to keep investing in Chicontepec, as well as other fields and its deepwater program.

Chicontepec “is a difficult field, but we have to find a way to make it productive,” he said.

Deepwater Investment

Pemex aims to spend a record $19.5 billion this year for exploration and production projects, focusing on waters deeper than 500 meters (1,641 feet) and its onshore Chicontepec field.

Moreira joined the board on May 14 to serve for a five- year-period. Moreira, Ruiz and two other new members were added to the board as the first members outside of Pemex’s union or Mexico’s government after new energy legislation was approved last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos M. Rodriguez in Mexico City at carlosmr@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 21, 2009 14:00 EDT