Mexico deepwater sale includes sub-salt area

OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2016. An upcoming licensing round for 10 blocks in Mexico's deepwater fields includes a previously unexplored sub-salt area known as Salinas del Istmo.

The area is off the coast of southern Mexico and geophysical companies are already exploring the region for the first time, said president of Mexico's National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) Juan Carlos Zepeda.

"There is a big expectation that under the salt, we will have different reservoirs in there," he said, on the sidelines of the IHS CeraWeek conference in Houston.

Companies are allowed to access geological data long before the auction itself which will be in December.

The time line to apply to access geological data began on 6 January and will end on 14 April. The interest has been "intense," with Mexico awarding seismic permits every one or two weeks, Zepeda said.

Mexican officials have said they will push ahead with the licensing round for the deepwater blocks in the Gulf of Mexico regardless of the price of crude. It is part of a sweeping energy reform that ends state-owned Pemex?s long-held monopoly in upstream and downstream operations.

The 10 blocks are in two large areas — the Salinas del Istmo and the north Perdido fold belt.

Most of the blocks are expected to hold light crude, with some prone to natural gas.