The Geology of North America series has been prepared to mark the Centennial of The Geological Society of America. It represents the cooperative efforts of more than 1,000 individuals from academia, state and federal agencies of many countries, and industry to prepare syntheses that are as current and authoritative as possible about the geology of the North American continent and adjacent oceanic regions.

The petroleum geology of Mexico remains relatively unknown to the international geoscience community because of the limited number of articles published in international forums by geoscientists from Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) and the Mexican Petroleum Institute. Sensitive Pemex data have traditionally been treated with strict confidentiality.