Mexico's deepest water oil well delayed until April

* To continue with other deep water projects

* Waiting for delivery of new drilling rig

MEXICO CITY Aug 6 (Reuters) - Mexico's state oil company Pemex said on Friday it has delayed drilling its deepest-ever offshore well until April and is continuing with other deep water exploration projects with increased safety standards.

Pemex [PEMX.UL] had expected to start drilling its Maximino well during the fourth quarter of this year, but on Thursday a top regulator said the company had delayed the plans in favor of working on a shallower, less complicated site Tulipau in the wake of the BP Plc (BP.L) oil spill. [ID:nN05163912]

Mexico has been waiting for the delivery of a new drilling rig capable of operating in ultra-deep waters to test prospects like Maximino near the U.S. border. The equipment is due to arrive in November, Pemex said in a statement.

"In April of 2011 the platform will be operating at the Maximino well ... at water depths of 2,600 meters (8,530 feet), the deepest Pemex has ever drilled," a Pemex statement said.

"The decision to start drilling at Tulipau (first) is mainly to allow the technical team to familiarize themselves with the platform's technology ... before moving to the more complex site at Maximino," the statement said.

Pemex hopes its deep water resources will someday reverse Mexico's declining oil production. The deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, which have emerged as a major oil production source for the United States, are largely unexplored in Mexican territory.

Mexico believes billions of barrels of oil lie in the deep waters of the Gulf, but exploration efforts are only beginning. Pemex has drilled fewer than 20 deep water wells so far. It has made some modest natural gas and oil discoveries but has not yet turned up any major deep water finds.

Company officials say they have no plans to slow future exploration despite safety concerns raised by the BP disaster.

"Other deep water projects continue as planned," Pemex said. The company said this month it will start drilling at Pikilis well at a water depth of 1,900 meters (6,200 feet).

In the United States, the April 20 explosion on BP's deep water Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers and hurt the billion-dollar fishing and tourism industries across five states along the Gulf of Mexico. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)