
We need to scale up and speed up the bidding process for Mexico to have continued success in upstream. The standardization of the process put forward by the Ministry of Energy’s Five-Year Plan will contribute us succeed. Prequalification is being streamlined, making participation easier. The industry will also be allowed to nominate blocks itself, which will increase the total acreage Mexico offers and therefore increase competitiveness. The timing of the rounds will also be standardized, giving the industry certainty that shallow-water and onshore bidding will happen in the first half of the year, while deepwater and unconventional rounds will happen in the second half of the year. Additionally, the Ministry of Finance is already heading in the right direction in terms of tipping the weighting toward work commitment and away from royalty rates during bidding, encouraging larger projects.