State oil firm Pemex appeared to reap the reward of Monday’s successful deep-water oilfield auction by Mexico when its $5.5bn bond offering attracted more than $30bn of orders, according to Reuters.
Mexican authorities awarded eight of 10 available deep-water blocks in the Gulf of Mexico in Monday’s auction, including one to a consortium that included Pemex.
The auction also saw a unit of Australian giant BHP Billiton awarded the partnership rights along with Pemex in the resource-rich Trion field, also in the Gulf.
Pemex used to have a monopoly position in domestic oil production but since energy reform policies were enacted in 2013, their grip has been loosened and these auctions saw the widest opening up yet to private and foreign competition.
Investors appear to share the government’s conviction that the reformed energy sector will be more productive.
