In This Issue:

- Mexico: E&P Regulator Issues First Call for Bids under Round One

- Have the Challenges of the Energy Transition been Overcome?

- Challenges for energy security in Europe: Do European shale gas or US LNG offer a solution?

- France: Hard Times for Electricity-Intensive Consumers

- Transactional Construction Law: Focus on Energy Projects

- Commentors Disagree on FERC's Proposal to Change the Gas Day Start Time

- Patent Office Statistics Indicate Growth In Oil & Gas Patents

- ExxonMobil Decision by ICSID: A win for ExxonMobil or Venezuela?

- Media Reports on 2014 "Fracking" Verdicts Miss the Real Story: Scientific Study Continues to Demonstrate the Safety of Professional Hydraulic Fracturing

- Federal District Court Ruling in Fukushima Daiichi Case Has Implications for Global Nuclear Liability Management

- Excerpt from Mexico: E&P Regulator Issues First Call for Bids under Round One:

The Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) has issued the first call for bids under Round One and the terms and conditions (T&Cs) governing the tender. CNH seeks to award 14 production sharing contracts for the exploration and production (E&P) of hydrocarbons in 14 areas located in shallow waters offshore the States of Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche (Gulf of Mexico). Additional tenders for the E&P of extra-heavy hydrocarbons and hydrocarbons located in the deep-waters of the Gulf of Mexico, shale plays and mature fields will be made during the first semester of 2015, also as part of Round One.

The 14 areas being auctioned by CNH under this call contain light crude and range from 116 km2 to 500 km2. All are exploration-first areas, meaning that each contractor will have to explore for hydrocarbons, and if such hydrocarbons are found in commercial quantities, proceed to produce hydrocarbons in accordance with a development plan.