Majors snap up Mexico's shallow-water offering
Industry heavyweights have piled in after large discoveries in the Sureste Basin, which has emerged as the country's most promising area outside the deep waters
Mexico saw strong interest from international oil companies in its last bid round before presidential elections in July which threaten to hamper energy reforms transforming the country's upstream. Of the 35 Gulf of Mexico shallow-water blocks put on offer this week, 16 drew winning bids, including from Total, Eni, Repsol, Shell and Mexico's state-owned Pemex. The clear standout area, as with last year's shallow-water round, was the Sureste (southeast) Basin, where all of the eight blocks offered up drew multiple competing bids. The Sureste Basin has been a reliable source of production for Pemex over the years, but more importantly has seen two major discoveries from foreign investors since

Also in this section
11 August 2025
The administration is pushing for deregulation and streamlined permitting for natural gas, while tightening requirements and stripping away subsidies from renewables
8 August 2025
The producers’ group missed its output increase target for the month and may soon face a critical test of its strategy
7 August 2025
The quick, unified and decisive strategy to return all the barrels from the hefty tranche of cuts from the eight producers involved in voluntary curbs signals a shift and sets the tone for the path ahead
7 August 2025
Without US backing, the EU’s newest sanctions package against Russia—though not painless—is unlikely to have a significant impact on the country’s oil and gas revenues or its broader economy