Mexico

Ten of the 15 shallow-water blocks on offer in the first auction of round two of Mexico’s 2013-2014 energy reform were snapped up Tuesday in what at times was fierce bidding.

Natural gas prices have been freed throughout Mexico, the nation’s energy regulator Comision Reguladora de Energia (CRE) declared in a decree published Friday in the Diario Oficial, the equivalent of the U.S. Federal Register.

North American onshore seismic data expert Seitel is partnering with Schlumberger Ltd. in a multiclient alliance to reimage and acquire geophysical data in key areas across onshore Mexico.

Liquids infrastructure development in Mexico is ripe for private sector investment, with major global companies from North America and Europe eyeing the market, according to executives from Sempra Energy’s Mexico City-based unit.

Building Mexico energy infrastructure ranging from refined products to renewables is what Sempra Energy views as its sweet spot for growth through its majority (66%) ownership of Infraestructure Energetica Nova, SAB de CV (IEnova), executives said Tuesday at an analyst meeting in New York City.

Mexico’s 2018 presidential election is a cloud over the country’s energy sector liberalization as populist frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed to roll-back reforms. But even if elected, he’s not likely to be successful, the director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Mexico Institute said Wednesday.

Mexico produced 5.334 Bcf/d of natural gas in April, state oil and natural gas company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) reported, a drop of 9.9% from the 5.921 Bcf/d recorded a year ago.

As temperatures rise in what promises to be a hot summer in Mexico, the country’s production of natural gas — the fuel of choice for the nation’s power plants — has been dropping by 10% year-on-year in recent months.

Natural gas forward prices fell at most locations across the United States for the period between May 19 and 25 as bearish storage news and a lack of clarity in long-term weather forecasts pressured markets, according to NGI’s Forward Look.