The Deepwater exploration tender offered a total of 10 deepwater blocks, with four in the Perdido Area and six in the Saline Basin. The awarded blocks are located in water depths ranging from about 900m-3,200m.
Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) president Juan Carlos Zepeda was quoted by OE Digital as saying that the 10 blocks would require a capital investment of about $4bn.
The CNH has awarded all four blocks in the oil-rich Perdido Basin to companies including Total, China’s state-run China National Offshore Oil (CNOOC), Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Additionally, four of six blocks were awarded in the Salina Basin to companies including Statoil, BP, and Total.
Statoil US and Mexico exploration vice-president Tore Løseth said: “Mexico’s opening presents the industry with great opportunities, so we are pleased to secure an early position.
“The blocks are virtually untested, with considerable subsurface uncertainty, but with play-opening potential.”
Separately, BHP Billiton, along with Pemex, also won the right to develop the $11bn Trion field in the Gulf of Mexico.
Planned to commence production by 2023, the field is expected to reach its production plateau by 2025, at nearly 120 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day.
BHP Billiton operations petroleum president Steve Pastor said: “We see attractive potential in Trion and the Perdido trend, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to further appraise and potentially develop this prospective frontier area of the deep-water Gulf of Mexico.”
Image: The Trión field is located in Gulf of Mexico. Photoebr: courtesy of Petróleos Mexicanos/Pemex.
