MEXICO CITY, March 9 (Reuters) - Oil companies have paidMexico's oil regulator nearly $80 million for seismic data aheadof an auction for deep water fields, suggesting robust interestin the tender despite a lasting slump in the price of crude.
Thirteen companies, including Exxon Mobil, BP and BHPBilliton, have paid a total of 1.38 billion pesos ($78 million)to date for licenses to use deep water data, according to adocument from national oil regulator CNH seen by Reuters.
Company executives say the sum reflects only a fraction oftheir spending in the past year to acquire geological data aheadof the Dec. 5 auction, which will feature 10 largely unexploredblocks in the Gulf of Mexico.
The deep water auction is part of the so-called Round Onetender, fruit of an energy reform finalized in 2014 that ended adecades-long production monopoly of state-owned oil firm Pemex.
"It's a commitment to invest in Mexico," an oil companyexecutive said about the purchase of deep water seismic data.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the executive said hisfirm spent more than $30 million last year on the acquisition ofadditional deep water seismic data from private suppliers.
Companies will want to see contract fine print yet to befinalized by the government before deciding to bid.
Oil companies already have spent an additional 346 millionpesos ($19.5 million) on bid packages for the deep waterauction, according to the document.
Global oil prices have fallen more than 70 percent in thepast couple of years, prompting deep spending cuts across theindustry and speculation that firms might pass on Mexico'spotentially lucrative but costly deep water projects.
($1 = 17.7145 Mexican pesos) (Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Bill Trott)