World's Oil Giants Awarded Mexico's Oil Fields

Mexico offered eight out of ten deepwater oil and gas blocks in the Gulf of Mexico as the Central American country's part to boost investment in the energy sector. These investments showed that Mexico's oil and gas sector is competitive, the country's energy minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell said.

China's Offshore Oil Corporation was awarded two blocks, while Australia's giant BHP Billiton will collaborate with Mexico's state oil company Pemex to manage in Trion light oil field located in the Gulf of Mexico, as Reuters reported.

China has been active in the Latin America energy sector and now the East Asian country is reaching out to be a major player in Mexico.

Pemex predicted it will require US$11billion investment to develop Trion. As Pemex will join BHP Billiton, this is the first time the ailing state-run oil company will team up with a private company since losing its monopoly rights in 2013.

New investments in the project are due to commence in 2017, with the BHP's commitment to invest $1.12 billion. However, commercial production is unlikely to come online until 2022 at the earliest.

BHP beat Britain's BP, which offered US$18 million less, as the NewYorkTimes reported.

France's Total won three bids and will team up with U.S. major ExxonMobil to manage blocks in the Perdido Fold Belt near the U.S.-Mexico maritime border for one while BP and Norway's oil giant Statoil each got one block in the Salina Basin.

Japan's Inpex, Pemex, and U.S oil giant Chevron joined in to manage a field while Malaysia's giant Petronas Carigali and private firm will team up with a newly established Sierra Offshore Exploration also won two blocks, one block won by U.S Murphy and Britain's oil firm Ophir.

The Central American country will plan to open three more bids for shallow and deep waters, including offshore areas and alternative fields such as shale gas before the current government ends its term in two years' time.

It is expected that the fields offered on Monday are expected to give an additional of 900,000 barrels per day in the country's oil output, as stated by the oil and gas regulatory chief Juan Carlos Zepeda.