Mexico looks to begin fracking program sometime next year after attracting over $22 billion in U.S. energy investments from 59 different companies.

Related:  Eagle Ford Shale and Mexico: An Important Partnership

At a gather of energy executives this week at Rice University, Mexico’s Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquín Coldwell told the group that the government will likely be ready to begin fracking for oil and gas early in 2017.

Mexico has a collection of rich shale fields just across the border from the Eagle Ford Shale Play in Texas, with billions of gallons of shale oil waiting to be fracked. For the first time in generations, the Mexican government is opening up its oil and gas fields to foreign investors after passing historic energy reforms in 2014.

The reforms came just before crude prices tanked, sending Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company spiraling downward.

Since the reforms, Mexico has secured $22.4 billion in energy investments including $10 billion for 10,000 kilometers of pipelines, $7 billion in exploration and production and $2.5 billion for new seismic maps to track oil and gas reserves.

As the industry stabilizes, there will be a great opportunity for collaboration between businesses that operate in the Eagle Ford Shale and Mexico.