On February 27th, 2015, Call for Bidders No. CNH-R01-C02/2015 was published in Mexico's federal official gazette. The CNH is inviting interested domestic and international private companies as well as productive state-owned companies, to participate in the international public tender (the "Tender") for the award of Hydrocarbon Extraction Contracts covering five contractual extraction areas located in shallow waters off the coastlines of the States of Tabasco and Campeche.

The Bidding Rules for the different contractual areas were also published on February 27, 2015. The Bidding Rules contain

  1. the minimum technical, financial and experience requirements that interested parties must meet in order to participate in the Tender, (ii) the calendar for the bidding procedures as well as
  2. the corresponding contract models. Please note that the contractual modality that will be used in this Tender will be "production-sharing".

Below are the most relevant dates included in the Bidding Rules:

  • February 27, 2015 – June 15th, 2015: Payment of registration fees and pre-qualification scheduling date.
  • February 27, 2015 – July 3rd, 2015: Submission of pre-qualification documents.
  • February 27, 2015 – July 24th, 2015: Review by CNH of pre-qualification documents.
  • July 31st, 2015 – Publication of the list of pre-qualified parties of the bidding process.
  • February 27, 2015 – June 1st, 2015: Request to access the data room and payment of the corresponding fees.
  • February 27, 2015 – September 29th, 2015: Access to the data room.
  • February 27, 2015 – June 5th, 2015: First clarification stage (the deadline to submit questions is June 2nd, 2015).
  • February 27, 2015 – June 10th, 2015: Second clarification stage (the deadline to submit questions is June 1st, 2015).
  • February 27, 2015 – August 12th, 2015: Third clarification stage (the deadline to submit questions is August 3rd, 2015).
  • August 14th, 2015: Publication of the final version of the Bidding Rules.
  • September 30th, 2015: Submission and opening of proposals.
  • October 2nd, 2015 (limit date): Award.
  • November 6th, 2015: Execution of agreements.

Parties interested in participating in the Tender and in performing hydrocarbon extraction activities, must demonstrate their prior experience in at least three extraction projects. Also, they must demonstrate holding equity of at least 1 billion US dollars.

It is important to note that companies that are prequalified under international public tender CNH-R01-L01/2014 related to the award of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Extraction Contracts in shallow waters (the "First Bid") will have an advantage, as most of the prequalification requirements submitted under the First Bid, will be deemed submitted or complied under the Tender (e.g. acts of incorporation, powers of attorney, ID of the legal representative, financial statements, credentials, capabilities, etc.), considering that the requirements that were required under the First Bid are very similar to the ones required under this Tender.

In accordance to Bidding Rules, interested parties may submit one proposal for each contractual area to be tendered.

The Bidding Rules may be consulted in the web page authorized by the CNH for such purpose (in Spanish), www.ronda1.gob.mx

Our firm will keep you properly informed about the development of this bidding processes that represents one of the most relevant steps forward to the implementation of the Energy Reform in Mexico.

Originally published March 2015

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.