Mexico eases terms for second upstream tender

Mexico has eased contract terms and bidding requirements for an upcoming tender of nine shallow-water development blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, the second package to be auctioned under the country's staggered first licensing round that kicked off in December.

The changes unveiled today by Mexico's oil regulator CNH offer more time and flexibility to interested bidders.

The deadline to apply for pre-qualification was postponed by one week, from 14 August to 20 August. The modifications also give more flexibility in the way participants can structure consortiums, allowing the operating firm to bid both as part of a consortium and individually.

New financial partners can be added until 25 September, only five days before the presentation of final proposals, which remains unchanged at 30 September.

The energy ministry also adjusted a provision regarding financial guarantees, introducing a single $2.5mn required bond for firms bidding on various blocks.

"We are seeking more flexibility, so that investors can comply with the guarantees required by the state," CNH head commissioner Juan Carlos Zepeda Molina said.

The changes were introduced following a disappointing result in the first tender for 14 shallow-water exploration blocks. Only two of the blocks were awarded, falling short of the government's goal of awarding 30-50pc of the acreage.

A third tender for 26 mostly mature onshore oil and natural gas blocks was designed to encourage new, smaller Mexican firms. Bids are due on 15 December.

Energy secretary Pedro Joaquin Coldwell has said a much-awaited tender for deepwater acreage would be postponed from July to the end of September, allowing more time to adjust contract terms. The fifth and last tender for shale and unconventional blocks has been suspended for now.

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