Mexico says Petrobras tie could only follow oil law

MEXICO CITY, April 2 (Reuters) - The head of Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex said on Wednesday a strategic alliance with Brazil's state oil company Petrobras could only be considered once a law is passed to revitalize Mexico's energy industry.

Mexico's government is struggling to convince opposition lawmakers to agree to legal changes to modernize Pemex, which is suffering from dwindling output and reserves, and possibly allow it to forge private or foreign partnerships.

"We hope to resolve the reform issue and from there we could consider the friendly invitations of Petrobras and President Lula," Pemex Director General Jesus Reyes Heroles told opposition lawmakers during talks over the oil sector.

Last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would support a strategic tie-up between Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N) and Pemex to speed up the exploration of new oil fields.

Weeks of talks by the Mexico's Senate energy committee have failed to reach a consensus on a reform proposal, amid loud opposition by left-wingers to the idea of private joint ventures in the state-controlled industry.

Some conservative lawmakers have suggested that a joint venture with state-owned Petrobras might be easier for left-wingers to swallow than private sector alliances, which many see as tantamount to privatisation.

Mexico's oil industry was expropriated in 1938 and Pemex has sole rights to explore for and produce oil and gas. (Reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Editing by Braden Reddall)