Mexico awards 19 deepwater areas at auction

Nineteen deepwater areas were awarded to 11 companies from 10 countries in Mexico's latest oil and gas auction on Wednesday.

Development of the blocks awarded will bring in investments of US$93bn, Aldo Flores Quiroga, the energy ministry's undersecretary for hydrocarbons, said after the last block was awarded.

The fourth tender of Round Two, or Round 2.4, offered 29 deepwater areas in four basins: the Perdido area, Cordilleras Mexicanas, Salina and the Yucatán platform.

The hydrocarbons commission's president, Juan Carlos Zepeda Molina, also lauded the results of the auction.

"A combination of good decisions and a good auction apparatus have resulted in the interest in Mexico's deepwater fields. The auction was a success and double the number of blocks were awarded compared with the country's first deepwater auction," which was held in December 2016, he said.

The Mexican auction mechanism is very efficient because the fiscal conditions are established in the bidding process, he said.

The day's biggest winner was Shell, which won nine contracts, either individually or in consortiums, followed by PC Carigali, which won six. Qatar Petroleum International won two contracts, while Pemex was also a big winner, winning four contracts, two individually and two in consortiums.

Shell, in consortium with Pemex, won block 2 in the Perdido area, and won blocks 3, 4, 5 and 7 in consortium with Qatar Petroleum International.

Pemex won block 5 in the Perdido area and block 18 as an individual bidder, while a consortium comprising PC Carigali, Repsol and Ophir Mexico was awarded block 10.

Pemex was also awarded block 22 in the Salina basin in consortium with Chevron and Inpex.

Block 12 was awarded to a consortium formed by PC Carigali, Ophir Mexico and PTT Exploration and Production Public Company, while a consortium made up of Repsol and PC Carigali was awarded block 14.

No bids were received for blocks 1, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19.

As a result of the auction, companies committed to drill a total of 23 new exploratory wells, according to the CNH.

Of the regions in which the areas offered are located, the Salina basin attracted the most interest, Zepeda Molina said.

Mexico will hold its next auction, for shallow water areas, on March 27, followed by an onshore auction on July 25.