Nine bidders made up of individual companies and consortia bid in Mexico’s Round One, phase two today (30 September), in what Mexico's National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) is calling a success with three out of five winning bids in the shallow water areas of the Southeast basin, offshore Mexico.
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Round One, phase two proves more successful than phase one. |
"The results are very satisfactory, we are very happy. We confirm the success of the energy reform. It is a great result for Mexico," Juan Carlos Zepeda, president of the CNH said at a press conference in Mexico City following Round One, phase two.
The big winners were Eni, and the consortia of Pan American Energy with E&P Hidrocarburos y Servicios, and Fieldwood Energy with Petrobal.
Although similar to Round One phase one, CNH had different expectation for phase two, as it came with lower risks. Phase two was much more successful than phase one, with three winning bids, however two blocks received no bids.
"We accomplished the second round with five contracts for extraction in the shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico. This is very good news for Mexico, because the awarding of these three contracts that contain six fields, will have Mexico see production by 2018. With the numbers that we have assessed, we can expect peak production of these three fields of at least 90,000 b/d," said Lourdes Melgar, Mexico's Undersecretary for Hydrocarbons.
The shallow water areas up for bids include:
Block 2 is located in the Southeast basin. It is 40sq km and contains the Hokchi field, with 2P reserves of 61MMbbl of light oil, and 29 Bcf of natural gas at 28m water depth.
Block 4 is in the Southeast basin. It is 58sq km and is comprised of two fields: Ichalkil and Pokoch, with 2P reserves of 68 MMbbl of light oil, and 92 Bcf of natural gas, in 45m water depth.
Block 5 is in the Southeast basin. It is 55sq km and is comprised of two fields: Mision and Nak, with 2P reserves of 44 MMbbl of light oil, and 103 Bcf of natural gas, in 32m water depth.
Companies that competed for the shallow water areas include: Italian giant Eni, Norway’s Statoil E&P Mexico, Russia’s Lukoil Overseas Netherlands, China National Offshore Oil Corp., DEA Deutsch e Erodeal AG.
Consortia include Pan American Energy (PAE) with E&P Hidrocarburos y Servicios; and Petronas Carigali International E&P with Galp Energia E&P; Talos Energy with Sierra Oil & Gas, and Carso Energy; and Fieldwood Energy with Petorbal.
Earlier this month, Mexico’s Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP) released the minimum fiscal terms that must be met by companies in order to win development rights in the second phase of Round One.
Mexico’s highly anticipated, but highly disappointing Round One (phase one) was held on 15 July, and only awarded two areas in its historic offering of the country’s upstream opportunities to international companies for the first time in decades.
The consortia of Sierra Oil Gas, Talos Energy, and Premier Oil, was awarded Area 2 and Area 7, in the 14 shallow water areas off the coast of Mexican cities Veracruz and Tabasco, respectively.
Round Three’s public tender process is expected to be 15 December. Round Four will include areas in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, with heavy crude areas, and Round Five will consist of nonconventional areas, which are still being analyzed due to current low oil prices.
Read more:
Mexico’s Round One minimums released
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