Mexico combines onshore bidding rounds

MEXICO CITY, November 22, 2016 – Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) said on Monday it would combine the 2.2 onshore bidding round launched in August with the 2.3 round announced days ago.

The fields in question, located in the southeastern Burgos, Chiapas and Suroeste areas, hold an estimated 643 million boe in total. The new deadline for pre-qualification would be moved to January 13, 2017, CNH told journalists, adding that the decision to combine the rounds was motivated by the close physical proximity of the onshore fields.

The news comes as Mexico’s state energy giant Pemex has been seeking foreign partnerships in order to plug gaping holes in its finances and to shore up declining output. Mexico’s upstream crude production is expected to decline to some 1.94 million bopd next year, a historic low since 1980 and just over half of the 3.4 million bopd peak in 2004.

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