It has been two years since the enactment of Mexico's wide
ranging energy market reforms and the government's allocation
to Pemex of those exploration and production rights permitted to be
retained by the former state monopoly, known as Round Zero. The
remaining hydrocarbon reserves* are up for grabs for private
investors in bidding rounds, each consisting of several stages.
Bidding Round 1 has had mixed results so far, though it is
anticipated that the energy majors will be attracted by its fourth
auction, consisting of exploration contracts for ten deep-water
blocks, to be awarded in December 2016. In tandem with the fourth
auction, Pemex has announced that for the first time in its history
it will be conducting a bidding process to develop the Trion field
in the Gulf of Mexico, with its estimated reserves of 480 million
barrels of oil equivalent lying under more than 2,500 metres of
water.
