Mexico awards $464 mln contract to CGGVeritas

MEXICO CITY, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex awarded a $464 million contract to France's CGGVeritas (GEPH.PA) to search for crude in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Pemex said on Monday.

Pemex, fighting to halt declining reserves and production, said the geophysical survey company would provide more than 46,000 square miles (75,000 square km) of 3D images over five years.

"This work will improve the precision in finding oil wealth in the deep Gulf of Mexico," Pemex [PEMX.UL] said in a statement.

Mexican oil output has fallen by nearly a quarter since 2004 as output from the aging Cantarell field has slumped. (Reporting by Noel Randewich, editing by Martin Golan )