You are absolutely correct.  However, even in the states there are certain formations that run literally for hundreds of miles.  The shale plays in Pennsylvania, the Bakken, the Mississippian Sands, etc.  I'm not saying that the opportunity exists for the same oil reservoir, I'm saying that the same strata could be in play.  I'm getting this from a geologist who has done some more recent work throughout the states, the Gulf of Mexico, through the Yucatan penninsula, and on down through the Bay of Campeche and down through Central Mexico.  His comments were something along the line of "there's more probability of oil and amounts of oil than most folks thought probable even 15 years ago."  So, I'm just throwing out what he is thinking.  I hope he's right.