On March 27, 2018, the Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (“CNH”) completed the Presentation and Opening of Bid Proposals for the First Tender of Round Three (“Round 3.1”), which was first announced on September 29, 2017. Round 3.1 attracted 30 oil and gas companies from around the world including Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Premier Oil, Pemex, Lukoil, BP, Deutsche Erdoel, Repsol, ENI and Total, among others.

Round 3.1 included 35 shallow water contract areas located in the Burgos, Tampico Misantla and Cuencas del Sureste regions (shown in the following map). The main focus of Round 3.1 was to offer exploration and development opportunities for wet and dry gas and light crude oil prospective reserves totaling 1,988 MMboe. The prospective resources offered in Round 3.1 accounted for 70% of the available shallow water resources under the Five Year Plan. The blocks were offered under a production sharing contract, similar to the shallow water form used by the CNH in Round 2.1, which has an exploration period of 4-8 years, an evaluation period of 2-3 years and a development/production period of 19-24 years.