BP chairman meets with Mexican president

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The chairman of BP (BP.L) met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday, but a spokeswoman for Calderon said they did not discuss a possible opening of Mexico's oil sector to foreign investment.

Tony Hayward, chief executive of the oil major, said in London that BP Chairman Peter Sutherland was in Mexico for an "important" meeting with Calderon as Mexican lawmakers debate new legislation that could permit foreign joint ventures in the country's creaking oil sector.

However a spokeswoman for Calderon said Sutherland was in Mexico in his other roles as chairman of U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) and as a United Nations special representative for migration, and said the meeting did not cover the oil sector.

"In this meeting Mr. Sutherland came in his capacity as chairman of Goldman Sachs and as a UN representative for migration issues, and they did not touch the topics of oil or energy or anything that has to do with BP," she said.

Calderon, a former energy minister, is seeking an oil sector reform to address declining output and reserves.

Mexico's constitution gives state oil company Pemex the sole right to extract Mexican oil, but ruling party lawmakers believe private sector joint ventures could speed up new oil discoveries without breaching the constitution.

Left-wing protesters are holding street demonstrations against what they see as plans to privatise the company.

Foreign oil companies like BP have had representatives in Mexico for years and most have informal information-sharing accords with Pemex as they try to forge friendly ties ahead of any possible opening to alliances.

(Reporting by Catherine Bremer in Mexico City and Tom Bergin in London)