© 2016 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(Dec. 14) – Lawyers from Thompson & Knight’s Dallas and Mexico offices recently worked on some of the most historic and highly-anticipated deals in Mexico in wake of the country’s 2013 energy reforms.
Last week, the firm closed out the bid process for BHP Billiton, which won the right from Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) to develop the Trion field in the Gulf of Mexico. Thompson & Knight also guided China Offshore Oil Corporation E&P Mexico (CNOOC) in securing two license agreements from the National Hydrocarbons Commission in the oil-rich Perdido Basin. CNOOC was among a group of companies to gain the National Hydrocarbons Commission’s green light that included Total SA, Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Both matters are part of Mexico’s first oil and gas bid round since the country began reform in 2013, which opened up the opportunity for foreign competitors to enter Mexico’s lucrative energy market for the first time in 75 years. Before 2013, the entire industry was monopolized by state-controlled Pemex.
Monterrey-based partner Gabriel Ruiz, who led the Thompson & Knight team, said the results of this auction were of “particular importance for Mexico for a number of reasons,” a big one being that the mission of the 2013 energy reforms appeared “to many observers as incomplete until the oil majors seriously participated by submitting competitive bids.
“The award of deepwater blocks to companies like Chevron, Exxon, Statoil, Total, CNOOC, BHPB and others provide the credibility the new oil and gas legal regime was looking for and will likely help attract additional foreign investment into Mexico,” Ruiz said. “In addition, the Trion result will further encourage a new era for Pemex, where we will see it bidding alone against other oil companies and seeking additional partners for E&P projects in Mexico, something that had not happened since its inception in 1938.”
Co-leading the T&K cross-border team with Ruiz was Dallas and Mexico City partner Luis Gomar. The team also included Dallas partner Andy Derman, Monterrey senior counsel Alejandro F. Sánchez Mújica and Monterrey/Mexico City associate Maria Luisa Licón.
On the BHP Billiton matter, the firm primarily worked with BHP Billiton Managing Counsel Stacy Feltham, a lawyer in the company’s Houston office who has also worked in-house for Exxon Mobil.
The next bid round, which will be for shallow water blocks, involves 15 areas off the coast of the states of Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche. It is expected to be awarded on March 22, 2017.
© 2016 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.