Source: OE Date: June 3, 2016
Mexico’s highly anticipated deepwater bid round set for the end of the year is getting registered bids from as many as 21 companies, with some of the oil and gas industry’s heavy hitters, including ExxonMobil and Chevron.
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Image from CNH. |
In addition, Shell, BP, Statoil, Total, Repsol, Eni, BHP Billiton, Lukoil, Ophir, PetroCanaada, Anadarko, Hess, Noble Energy, Murphy Oil, Cobalt, Sierra Oil and Gas, China National Offshore Oil Corp., ONGC Videsh, Petronas, Inpex and Mitsui have all submitted proposals to explore the fourth phase of Mexico’s auction, set for December 2016.
The bids are for 10 deepwater exploration blocks: six in the Salina basin of the Gulf of Mexico and four in the Mexican side of the Perdido belt that are located in the northern section, andcover a total of 8250km at water depths ranging from 500-3000m.
As Mexico’s Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) president Juan Carlos Zepeda Molina explained at OTC last month, the Gulf of Mexico is mostly divided between Mexican and US territory, with 54% in the Mexican jurisdiction, 44% in the US jurisdiction, and the remaining 2% with Cuba.
As covered in OE’s special report on Mexico, the Perdido Fold Belt is largely thought to be the most prized area. The area is known geologically to US oil majors.
Shell began production from its Perdido spar in 2010, which the Anglo-Dutch supermajor calls "the world’s deepest offshore oil drilling and production platform." Perdido sits in 2450m (8000ft) of water in the US Gulf of Mexico. The spar's peak production is 100,000 boe/d. Experts say it is natural to think the Mexican side of Perdido could be as prolific.
“It is a mistake to think of the Gulf of Mexico as the same on both the US and Mexican sides once the Gulf opened sufficiently to establish independent petroleum systems. The exception is the Perdido play,” Dan Bendig, a geologist and director of Consulting at IHS in Houston told Heather Saucier back in March. “This play extends from the US into Mexico. It is a proven play and will be the hot play for Round One.”
CNH released an updated version of the deepwater license contract in May, and will follow with a list of final bidders and the final contract on 24 August.
According to Melgar, Round 2.1, which includes shallow water blocks will be announced in June 2016, along with a call for bids.