Mexico’s National Hydrocarbon Commission (CNH) has awarded three offshore blocks to Eni in the Sureste Basin in the Gulf of Mexico.
The offshore blocks are expected to strengthen Eni's presence in the Mexican market, that was only opened up to foreign investments in 2014.
Offered by CNH under the first bids called under “Ronda 2”, the blocks are located in water depth ranging from 20m to 500m in the Sureste and Tampico-Misantla Basins.
Eni will serve as operator for Block 10 with maximum stake. The company will own 45% stake in Block 7, while Cairn will own 30% stake and Citla will own 25% interest.Block 14 will be owned by Eni and Citla, with stakes of 60% and 40%, respectively.
Eni Mexico will manage the operations of all licenses.
The contract awards, which will be production sharing agreements, are subject to final approval by the authorities.
Eni already has a 100% interest in Area one in the Sureste Basin, in which the exploration and appraisal campaign is ongoing and a fast-track plan to develop Amoca field is being finalized with plans for an early production phase.
The new blocks are joined to Area one, which will allow Eni to build up a new core area of considerable size with significant operational synergies in the country.
Since 2006, Eni has been carrying out operations in Mexico through its wholly-owned subsidiary Eni Mexico.
Earlier this month, Eni signed contracts and inked regulatory and financial agreements for its proposed Coral South floating LNG (FLNG) project offshore Mozambique.
The Italian oil and gas giant had announced an $8bn investment for the first phase development of the project in November last year.
Image:Eni has awarded three offshore blocks in the Sureste Basin. Photo: courtesy of Eni.