Supermajors Chevron and ExxonMobil were two of 26 companies, both privately and in consortia, that have earned the right to submit bids for Mexico’s Round 1 to be held on 15 July, the country’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) announced on 25 May.
Other companies, which sought individual prequalification certificates include Atlantic Rim Mexico, BHP Billiton, Cobalt Energy, Spain’s CEPSA, Hess, Hunt Overseas, Russia’s Lukoil, Maersk Oil, Marathon, Nexen, India’s ONGC Videsh, Canada’s Pacific Rubiales, Pemex, Plains Acquisition Corp., Premier Oil, Statoil, and Total.
Seven consortia were awarded prequalification certificates: BG Group alongside Galp Energia; ENI along with Noble Energy and CASA Exploration; Murphy Worldwide along with Ecopetrol, Petronas, and PTTEP; Pan American Energy along with E&P Hidrocarburos y Servicios; Talos Energy along with Sierra Oil and Gas and Glencore E&P; Tullow along with Petrobal; and Woodside Energy along with Diavaz Offshore and Pluspetrol.
David Shields wrote for OE back in April that in order to qualify for the bid round, companies must prove their knowledge and experience in working in shallow waters by demonstrating their participation in at least three exploration and production projects, or alternatively in one or in two large-scale projects, which together involve capital investments of US$1 billion.
Additionally, according to CNH, a company that aspires to be the operator of a project must prove equity of $1 billion and assets of $10 billion. And if the company forms a group of companies, it must prove equity of at least $600 million, or alternatively it can prove that it has an investment grade rating. When companies form a consortium, their joint equity must amount to at least $2 billion. In a consortium, the operating company must be a member with at least a third of the equity.
Round 1 consists of 14 shallow water exploration blocks covering nine fields. Analyst firm Wood Mackenzie stated back in March that the areas up for grabs have a total of 356 MMboe of 2P reserves.
Find more about Mexico's offshore in OE Region: Mexico Review.
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