Mexican firm Corporativo Cemza, a consortium of nine oil services companies, is seeking an operating partner to participate in Mexico’s Round 2.1 auction for shallow water fields.
The first Round 2.1 auction comprises 15 contractual areas in the Tampico-Misantla basin, and offshore Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche.
“Cemza is specifically seeking a foreign operating partner with the technical know-how and experience to develop the fields on offer,” Halina Urbina , fleet development manager at Marinsa, one of the companies that form part of the consortium.
Marinsa is a Mexican company providing vessels for the offshore oil industry, with operations in Latin America and Asia, with offices in Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico City, Houston and Singapore, and is one of the nine companies comprising the consortium.
“We are currently in the search for an operator partner that complies with the technical criteria. As the only operator active in Mexico was Pemex, there are no operators here, and we are seeking to be the Mexican arm by providing the capital to participate in this round along with a partner interested in investing in the Gulf of Mexico,” she said.
Other firms in the consortium are Petronaval, Oceanmar, Marinsa, Presco, Martel, Bistro, Enermar, Varadero Zavala.
Marinsa, along with the majority of the companies, has experience providing services to Pemex, as well as collaborating in seismic surveys in the Gulf of Mexico.
Prior to Mexico’s energy reform, private firms were barred from participating as operators in Mexico’s E&P sector.
Cemza says it can offer exploration, drilling, production and trade operations, from surveys to drilling, rig moving and hydrocarbon, personnel and platform equipment transportation, as well as worker hospitality and administrative tasks such as customs clearance.
The consortium also offers diesel distribution services in Mexico via the principal ports of the Gulf of Mexico.
In addition to working with Pemex, the consortium has also won contracts with some of the successful bidders in Mexico’s Round 1.
“Marinsa aims to progress from being an oil and gas services provider to an operator, creating strategic alliances with firms with ample experience to participate in E&P,” Urbina said.
The future partner will have the support of all of the firms in the consortium, which have installed capacity, experience, and in-depth knowledge of operating in Campeche Sound and the wider Gulf of Mexico, she added.
“In Mexico there is the talent that can provide the know-how that has been acquired during the era of Pemex as the sole operator, and our company has personal with a great deal of experience in new field discoveries, and we could be of great benefit in this area.”