Offshore staff
MEXICO CITY–Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) held the first tender of the country’s Round 2 E&P bidding process on Monday, awarding 10 of the 15 shallow-water blocks on offer.
Altogether, 36 companies participated in the auction, either individually or as part of consortiums. Of the 12 companies that won licenses, seven were fresh entrants in Mexico’s upstream sector.
Eni, which had already won a shallow-water block in Round 1, came away from the most recent tender with three additional licenses. Another big winner of Round 2.1 was new player Citla Energy, which won three licenses in partnership with both Eni and Cairn Energy.
PEMEX won two blocks, partnering with Germany’s DEA Deutsche for Tampico-Misantla Area 2, and Colombia’s Ecopetrol for Southeastern Basins Area 8.
The most sought-after block was Southeastern Basins Area 9, which attracted six bids from major international oil companies such as Chevron and China National Offshore Oil Corp., as well as smaller independents including Talos Energy and Diavaz.
Two bidders tied in their proposals for that block, but a consortium of Citla Energy and Cairn Energy were declared winners based on an additional cash bonus of more than $30 million. The block spans 562 sq km (217 sq mi) and is estimated to hold 169 MMboe in 2P reserves.
All of the areas offered in Round 2.1 were located off the coasts of the states of Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche. Together, the 15 blocks covered more than 8,900 sq km (3,436 sq mi), and held a combined 4 Bboe in prospective resources.
The complete results of Round 2.1 are as follows:
* Tampico-Misantla Area 1: Not awarded
* Tampico-Misantla Area 2: DEA Deutsche and PEMEX
* Tampico-Misantla Area 3: Not awarded
* Tampico-Misantla Area 4: Not awarded
* Veracruz Area 5: Not awarded
* Southeastern Basins Area 6: Petronas and Ecopetrol
* Southeastern Basins Area 7: Eni, Cairn Energy and Citla Energy
* Southeastern Basins Area 8: PEMEX and Ecopetrol
* Southeastern Basins Area 9: Cairn Energy and Citla Energy
* Southeastern Basins Area 10: Eni
* Southeastern Basins Area 11: Repsol and Sierra Oil & Gas
* Southeastern Basins Area 12: Lukoil
* Southeastern Basins Area 13: Not awarded
* Southeastern Basins Area 14: Eni and Citla Energy
* Southeastern Basins Area 15: Total and Shell
06/20/2017
