By David Alire Garcia
CANCUN, Mexico, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Mexico will seek jointventures for state oil company Pemex at the same timeit invites bidding from companies on oil fields during ahistoric opening of the industry to private investment, thegovernment said on Friday.
Detailing a road map for investment since Congress finalizeda reform of the industry in August, the energy ministry said thefirst contracts would be awarded next May, earlier than thethird-quarter target previously envisioned.
That would happen in tandem with initial joint ventures, thefirst of which had been set for the first quarter of 2015,officials said at a conference in the beach resort of Cancun.
President Enrique Pena Nieto's reform ends Pemex's 75-yearmonopoly and paves the way for a Round One tender as well asfirst-ever joint venture between Pemex and private companies.
The tender and an initial 10 "farm-outs," or joint ventureswith Pemex cover a total of about 29,000 square km (11,200square miles) and nearly 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
"Round One will present both (fields) that are in the handsof the state and Pemex farm-outs," the deputy energy ministerfor hydrocarbons, Lourdes Melgar, said at the event attended byexecutives of companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp andRoyal Dutch Shell Plc.
Round One will bid out 169 fields, including 60 already inproduction, spanning unconventional, or non-traditional,production areas along the U.S.-Mexico border, shallow anddeepwater projects.
"We believe if you put those thing together, (the companies)will be able to make a better investment decision," said JuanCarlos Zepeda, president of the National HydrocarbonsCommission, the newly beefed-up oil sector regulator.
Round One plus the 10 joint ventures with Pemex is expectedto generate about $50 billion in new investment by 2018.
Publication of the calls for bids will start in November forthe first shallow-water projects and Pemex joint ventures, withso-called data rooms containing geological information for theprojects opening in January.
Calls for bids on deepwater areas will be disclosed in Marchwith corresponding data rooms open by May.
Zepeda said "virtual" data rooms will also be accessibleonline, noting that more general oil and gas basin data will bereleased next month.
The first shallow-water contracts will be awarded in May.
Fiscal terms of the new contracts created by the reform -production and profit-sharing contracts as well as licenses -will vary by contract. All will include corporate income tax,surface rent, state and municipal taxes and a variable royalty.
Variables used to determine contract winners will be set outin each contract and focus on the total government take in theform of taxes and royalties, plus investment commitments.
The government has pledged new transparency measuresrequiring that contracts and all payments be made public as wellas rules stipulating that at least two National Hyrdocarbonscommissioners be present at meetings between regulators andcompanies. (Editing by Dave Graham and Jonathan Oatis)
