WHAT was bad for the dinosaurs 65 million years ago has turned out to be very
good for Mexico. The asteroid that hit Yucatan may have wiped out the giant
reptiles, but it also helped form the country’s richest oilfield—and other
reserves may still await discovery.
The Cantarell oilfield is Mexico’s largest by far, producing 1.2 million
barrels a day. The “black gold” originated in 150-million-year-old sediments
rich in organic material, says Manuel Grajales-Nishimura of the Mexican
Institute for Petroleum in Mexico City.
When the asteroid hit shallow water about 350 kilometres away from Cantarell,
it threw up debris…
