A New Oil Boom in Mexico’s Aging ‘Golden Belt’

TAMPICO, Mexico—More than a century ago, an enterprising Californian struck oil near this Gulf of Mexico port city, the first of many finds that tagged this area as “the Golden Belt” and propelled Mexico into the top ranks of oil producers.

Now the cradle of Mexico’s oil industry is set to kick-start a new energy boom, after President Enrique Peña Nieto’s government invited private companies to explore for and extract oil, ending more than seven decades of government monopoly.