Chevron, Total snap up Mexican deepwater acreage

U.S. oil major Chevron has signed an exploration contract over an offshore block in Mexico, awarded as part of Mexico’s 1.4 deepwater bid round.

Chevron, already a large Gulf of Mexico operator – on the U.S. side of the maritime border – sees the award acreage (Block 3), as one of the most significant opportunities in Mexico’s 1.4 bid round.

At the same time, the acquisition marks Chevron debut into Mexico’s offshore oil and gas business. This applies to other international companies involved, as before this year’s bidding round, Mexican oil and gas sector had been closed for foreign investments.

In its first competitive deepwater bid round Mexico had offered ten deepwater blocks as part of the 1.4 bid round, eight of which were awarded on Monday to international oil players.

Commenting on the award, Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production said: “With our significant existing leasehold in the Gulf of Mexico, and global deepwater expertise, we can now help fuel progress on both sides of the border and beyond.”

The Block 3 spans approximately 1.687 square kilometers, and is located in the Perdido Fold Belt, approximately 117 kilometers offshore Mexico in water depths ranging between 1,640 to 5,575 feet 500 meters to 1,700 meters.

Chevron will be the operator and hold a 33.3334 percent interest in the block while Pemex and Inpex will each hold a 33.3333 percent interest. Worth noting, this consortium is the only partnership that included Mexico’s national oil company Pemex.

Pemex did enter into a partnership with Australia’s BHP Billiton on Monday, over its Trion discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, but this team-up was not a part of the 1.4 bidding round.

Total ‘seizes opportunity’

French oil firm Total is also one of the international majors that successfully took part in the bidding round. The company has been awarded exploration licenses on three blocks in offshore Mexico.

Total will be the operator of Block 2 in the Perdido basin with a 50% interest, while ExxonMobil has the remaining 50%. The block covers a surface area of 2,977 square kilometers at water depths ranging from 2,300 to 3,600 meters.

In the Salina basin, Total has won a participating interest of 33.3%, alongside Statoil (33.4%) and BP (33.3%), in Block 1 (2,381 km²) and Block 3 (3,287 km²).

“With our successful bids in these promising deep water prospects, Total has seized the opportunity to benefit from Mexico’s energy reforms. Our winning bids add high-grade exploration potential to our portfolio,” said Arnaud Breuillac, President Exploration & Production at Total. “We now look forward to launching exploration works and expanding our cooperation with Mexico together with our partners.”

Sixteen international companies, grouped as ten bidders, took part in the bidding round. Read more here: https://bit.ly/2g3XgTh

Offshore Energy Today Staff