Mexico’s latest round of hydrocarbons bidding, this one for offshore blocks in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, saw 16 contracts offered to 12 bidders on Tuesday.
The tendered contracts represent investments of $8.6 billion over the life of the contracts but the estimated resources in those areas are about 513 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Energy industry regulator the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) showed the public bid session live on webcast.
It is third round of bidding for oil rights since Mexico approved energy sector reforms, which are intended to increase investment and improve productivity by inviting in foreign companies.
Among the successful bidders this time were Repsol, Premier Oil, Pemex, Capricorn Energy, Citla Energy, Deutsche Erdoel, Compania Espanola de Petroleos, Eni, Lukoil, Total, Shell, Pan-American Energy, Sapura Exploration and BP.
Several bids were by consortia of those companies. The three areas in focus were the Burgos basin, the Tampico-Misantla-Veracruz (TMV) basin and the Cuencas del Sureste basin.
