Pemex receives no bid for Corindón-Pandura development

Nov. 6, 2003
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's national oil and gas company said Wednesday that it had received no bids for Corindón-Pandura, the fourth contract under its seven-contract Multiple Services Contract (MSC) program for development of nonassociated natural gas in the Burgos basin of northern Mexico (OGJ Online, Oct. 29, 2003).

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, Nov. 6 -- Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's national oil and gas company said Wednesday that it had received no bids for Corindón-Pandura, the fourth contract under its seven-contract Multiple Services Contract (MSC) program for development of nonassociated natural gas in the Burgos basin of northern Mexico (OGJ Online, Oct. 29, 2003).

Some companies that had purchased bidding documents for the block, but chose not to bid included Totalfina Oil & Gas Mexique, Halliburton de Mexico, Mexico-based D&S Petroleum, Techint SA de CV, and Repsol Exploracion-YPS.

Repsol, which won the Reynosa-Monterrey block contract in the first round of bidding, explained that it wanted to focus all its efforts on that 20 year contract and therefore did not submit a bid proposal for Corindón-Pandura. A Techint unit—Tecpetrol—was part of the consortium that won the 20-year contract for the Misión block in the third MSC contract, and D&S was part of the consortia that won the 15 year, second contract, the Cuervito block (OGJ Online, Oct. 22, 2003)

Pemex considers rebid
Mexico's Public Works Law allows Pemex to hold a second tender for the Corindón-Pandura block MSC. The company said it plans to hold a series of workshops "to reexamine the technical data, reevaluate the terms and conditions offered, and determine the suitability of a second bidding round for the Corindón-Pandura block."

Pemex to date has awarded three of the seven blocks under the MSC program: Reynosa-Monterrey, Cuervito, and Misión. According to Pemex estimates, these contracts together will generate about $3.7 billion of investment, provide Pemex with $700 million in cost savings over the life of the contracts, and produce an additional 350 MMcfd of natural gas production.

Submission of bids for the fifth MSC, the 20 year Ricos contract, is due Nov. 12, with award expected the following day. Some companies that purchased bid documents for Ricos include ExxonMobil Corp., Madrid-based Obrascon Huarte Lain SA, Totalfina, and Repsol.

Under the MSCs, Pemex expects to increase its capacity to carry out the Burgos basin project to increase nonassociated natural gas production in northern of Mexico, reduce imports, and help meet the increasing demand for natural gas in the country.