Mexico to offer onshore blocks next week

OREANDA-NEWS. Mexico's energy ministry said today it will issue a formal invitation to bid on a package of onshore blocks on 12 May, the third in a series of upstream tenders that make up the country's historic first-ever licensing round that started late last year.

The energy ministry has previously said a "few dozen" blocks covering mature fields along the Gulf of Mexico coast would be offered.

The national hydrocarbons commission (CNH) had been scheduled to launch the third package of blocks in March, but falling oil prices since mid-2014 have set back the ambitious timetable.

Mexico kicked off the round with 14 shallow water exploration blocks in December 2014, and a second package of nine shallow water development blocks in February.

The round will culminate in late June or early July with deepwater blocks in the Gulf of Mexico.