As of January 16, 13 companies have initiated the prequalification process for Round 2.1, the shallow water exploration and extraction contract auction process that Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) intends to award in June 19 of this year. According to CNH’s website, the companies are:
UK: BP, Premier Oil Exploration and Production, Shell (UK-Netherlands)
México: Citla Energy E&P, Sierra O&G.
Germany: Dea Deutsche Erdoel AG.
Italy: ENI.
Norway: Statoil.
The auction, originally planned for March 22, was postponed until June after CNH received formal requests from four interested companies. The R02-L01 process will tender 15 shallow water fields in the Gulf of Mexico, in the areas of Tampico-Misantla, Veracruz and the Southeastern Basin. The fields have an average 592 km2 area and 1,587 million boe in prospective resources. The first oil and gas production from these fields is expected to be delivered in 2020. A total of 23 companies have expressed interest in the process. The final companies that will participate in the auction will be announced by CNH on March 1.
