Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

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1 Legal Update December 18, 2014 Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released On December 11, 2014, the Mexican National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) published the bidding and contract terms for the first 14 oil and gas areas in shallow waters, kicking off the first phase of Mexico s Round One, which will continue throughout Although such bidding and contract terms, which are available at only relate to shallow water contract areas, they give us a general insight into what the industry can anticipate as to the legal and administrative framework for participating in Round One. Production-sharing contracts with 3 to 5-year exploration terms will be awarded for the first 14 oil and gas areas in shallow waters pursuant to economic criteria contained in the bidders proposals, based on a weighted formula that includes consideration of the share of operating profits offered to the State and a multiplier of the minimum investment commitment per contract area. Non-Mexican companies may validly participate in all phases of the bidding round pursuant to the terms noted below. However, upon selection of a winning bidder, the CNH may only execute exploration and production contracts with Mexican-incorporated commercial entities, meaning that winning bidders that have previously not formed a Mexican corporation or other Mexican entity will need to do so at that time. Pemex will also be able to bid by itself or in association with others pursuant to the same bidding terms. Round One Calendar The Round One bidding process will be divided into the following five different phases: Shallow waters (exploration); Shallow waters (production); Onshore Chicontepec Basin and Unconventional Resources; and Deepwater. Although subject to change, the Mexican Ministry of Energy (SENER) has published the following Round One tentative timeline: Shallow waters (exploration) Shallow waters (production) BIDDING INVITATION DATA ROOM ACCESS Dec Jan Jan Jan Onshore Feb Mar Chicontepec Basin and Unconventional Mar Apr Deepwater Apr May 2015 Source: SENER

2 The main features of the bidding terms for the first 14 oil and gas areas in shallow waters are summarized below. Shallow Water Contract Areas The 14 contract areas offered in the first phase of Round One are located in shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the states of Veracruz, Tabasco and Campeche in southeast Mexico. These are exploratory areas with prospective resources that, according to SENER, are expected to contain light crude oil with low production costs. Each contractct area is subject to different minimum investment obligations. Source: SENER MIN. CONTRACT AREA GEOLOGIC PROVINCE AREA (KM2) WELLS TO BE DRILLED SEISMIC COSTS (US$) DRILLING COSTS (US$) EVALUATION COSTS (US$) TOTAL COST (US$) 1 Cuenca Salina Cuenca Salina Cuenca Salina Cuenca Salina Cuenca Salina Cuenca Salina Cuenca Salina Cuenca Salina $875,000 $109,560,000 $2,150,000 $112,585,000 2 $900,000 $109,560,000 $2,850,000 $113,310,000 2 $805,000 $100,200,000 $2,150,000 $103,155,000 2 $900,000 $100,200,000 $2,850,000 $103,950,000 2 $6,525,000 $80,000,000 $2,850,000 $89,375,000 2 $8,300,000 $111,000,000 $2,850,000 $122,150,000 2 $750,000 $89,800,000 $2,850,000 $93,400,000 1 $750,000 $75,000,000 $1,425,000 $77,175,000 2 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

3 MIN. CONTRACT AREA GEOLOGIC PROVINCE AREA (KM2) WELLS TO BE DRILLED SEISMIC COSTS (US$) DRILLING COSTS (US$) EVALUATION COSTS (US$) TOTAL COST (US$) 9 Cuenca Salina $750,000 $55,500,000 $1,425,000 $57,675, Cuenca Salina $900,000 $130,500,000 $2,850,000 $134,250, Cuenca Salina $750,000 $146,400,000 $2,850,000 $150,000, Cuenca Salina $750,000 $167,400,000 $2,850,000 $171,000, Cuenca Salina $805,000 $109,560,000 $2,150,000 $112,515, Macuspana $805,000 $111,000,000 $2,850,000 $114,655,000 TOTAL 4,222 Bidding Process and Calendar The bidding and contract terms are not subject to direct or private negotiation. Interested companies are not to contact the CNH or any other State entity involved in the bidding round outside of the formal bidding process. Interested companies may submit clarifying questions on the bidding process and/or the bidding or contract terms at any time starting on December 11, Based on the questions and feedback, the CNH may revise the bid and contract terms at least twice before they are deemed final. All documents and correspondence will be in Spanish (except where non-spanish documents are expressly permitted, as noted below), and all official acts of the CNH during the bid process will be conducted in Spanish by a bid evaluation BIDDING INVITATION AND TERMS committee appointed by the CNH president. The CNH reserves the right to modify the bidding terms or cancel the bidding round at any time. The phases of the bidding process are: a. Publication of the bidding invitation and terms; b. Access to the information data room; c. Clarification to the bidding terms and contract; d. Prequalification of companies; e. Changes to joint bidders; f. Delivery and opening of proposals; and g. Contract execution. Below is the general calendar included in the bidding terms: EVENT DATE ADDRESS Publication of the bidding invitation and terms 11/Dec/14 Official Daily Gazette and web sites: Publication of updated bidding terms (including contract) 13/Mar/15 Publication of final bidding terms (including contract) 15/Jun/15 3 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

4 DATA ROOM EVENT DATE ADDRESS Period to request access to the Data Room and pay corresponding fee Data Room Access 11/Dec/14 to 16/Mar/15 15/Jan/15 to 14/Jul/15 Insurgentes Sur 1228, Piso 10, Colonia Tlacoquemécatl del Valle, Delegación Benito Juárez. C.P México, D.F. CLARIFICATION TO BIDDING AND CONTRACT TERMS EVENT DATE ADDRESS First phase of clarifications (concerning data room access) 11/Dec/14 to 25/Feb/15 Questions received until 20/Feb/15 Second phase of clarifications (concerning prequalification) 11/Dec/14 to 11/Mar/15 Questions received until 5/Mar/15 Third phase of clarifications (concerning delivery and opening of proposals, contract award and decisions) 28/April/15 to 15/Jun/15 Questions received until 1/Jun/15 PREQUALIFICATION EVENT DATE ADDRESS Period for registration payment and to request an appointment for prequalification Receipt of prequalification documents Prequalification period (document review by bid evaluation committee) Publication of the list of interested companies that have prequalified to participate in the bidding round 11/Dec/14 to 16/Mar/15 11/Dec/14 to 31/Mar/15 11/Dec/14 to 23/April/15 27/April/15 Insurgentes Sur 1228, Piso 10, Colonia Tlacoquemécatl del Valle, Delegación Benito Juárez. C.P México, D.F. Insurgentes Sur 1228, Piso 10, Colonia Tlacoquemécatl del Valle, Delegación Benito Juárez. C.P México, D.F. 4 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

5 CHANGES TO JOINT BIDDERS EVENT DATE ADDRESS Last date to request CNH authorization to include possible financial partners that have not prequalified in the joint bidder structure Last date to request CNH authorization to modify the composition structure of joint bidders Last date to resolve any authorization to include financial partners that have not prequalified and for any changes to the joint bidder structure 20/May/15 10/Jun/15 15/Jun/15 This date will be communicated via to bidders DELIVERY AND OPENING OF PROPOSALS EVENT DATE ADDRESS Delivery and opening of proposals and naming of winning bidders Resolution of the Governing Body for the awarding decision and request to publish the decision in the Federal Official Gazette 15/Jul/15 17/Jul/15 at the latest The date, time and place will be published at: Insurgentes Sur 1228, Piso 11, Colonia Tlacoquemécatl del Valle, Delegación Benito Juárez. C.P México, D.F. Deadline for the execution of contracts 21/Aug/15 Insurgentes Sur 1228, Piso 11, Colonia Tlacoquemécatl del Valle, Delegación Benito Juárez. C.P México, D.F. Registration and Data Room Access Interested companies must first register for the bidding round in order to have access to the data room. Additionally, only registered companies will be able to submit their prequalification credentials. In order to register for the bidding round, interested companies must pay the following amounts: For data room access to information relating to the 14 contract areas, MXN 5.3 million (approximately US$350,000); and For registration only, MXN 280,000 (approximately US$18,600). This payment can be made via Internet or at a Mexican bank. Paid data room access includes: Visits to the physical data room (appointment is required); and Virtual access to the data room. If the company paying for the data room access intends to participate in the bidding round as a member of a consortium, all of the members of the consortium may have access to the data room without having to pay an additional access fee. After making the registration payment, companies will be issued an identifying code (Clave AD) to participate in the bidding round. It is not necessary to have completed the prequalification process to have access to the data room. A hard disk containing the complete data room information; 5 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

6 Data Room Access Registered companies must submit data room access applications to CNH with documents evidencing their legal existence and the legal representative s authority. Foreign companies may request and be granted access to the data room with such documentation translated into Spanish and certified by a Mexican official translator. In addition, companies must sign and submit the confidentiality agreement included as an annex to the bidding terms (Formato CNH-2). Clarification Phases There will be three different clarification phases for the following topics: Payments and data room access; Prequalification; and Proposals and bidding and contract terms. Companies are not obligated to send clarifying questions. The responses to the bidders questions will be made available to all bidders and will be deemed part of the bidding terms and thus must be reviewed and considered by interested companies in addition to the original bidding terms. Based on the questions and feedback, the CNH may make modifications to the final version of the bidding terms up to June 15, Prequalification Companies must prequalify as a condition to being able to submit proposals. Only registered companies may be able to participate in the prequalification process. The prequalification process will concern technical, operational, financial and legal matters. Supporting documentation for the prequalification process must be submitted in person at the time of a previously scheduled appointment with the CNH. When requesting a prequalification appointment, companies do not need to specify whether they will be participating individually or in association with others. The bid evaluation committee of the CNH will review the documentation at the time of submittal. If required documents are missing, the CNH will not receive any documents, and the company will need to request another appointment to submit complete prequalification documentation. The CNH will publish the list of prequalified companies. It is important to note that each bidding round (shallow waters, extra-heavy oil, Chicontepec Basin and unconventional resources, onshore, and deepwater) is expected to have different prequalification requirements. The prequalification requirements relating to the shallow water bidding process are noted below. These requirements must be met by each bidder participating individually, by the designated operator if the bidder will be a consortium or association, or jointly by all consortium or association members, as noted below. 6 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

7 TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS OF AN INDIVIDUAL BIDDER OR A DESIGNATED OPERATOR THAT WILL BE VERIFIED 1) Demonstrate experience as an operator during (regardless of whether the specific project started before this period) in (a) at least three exploration and production projects or (b) an aggregate amount of capital investments in exploration and production projects of at least US$1 billion; and 2) Demonstrate experience as an operator or partner in offshore projects. Must be the operator in at least one offshore exploration and production project or must have participated as a partner in at least two offshore exploration and production projects within the last five years and 3) Demonstrate that the proposed personnel have the required qualifications. Must demonstrate that each member of the proposed personnel for the key manager positions in charge of the operations has at least 10 years of managerial and operational experience in managing offshore exploration and production projects; and SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO EVIDENCE THE TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONS EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS (a) Certified copies of contracts, concession titles or certified copies of the cover pages of exploration and production contracts (not including service contracts) or letters issued by the regulatory authorities with jurisdiction over those contracts or titles that evidence the required experience. (b) In the case of companies listed on a stock exchange or issuers of securities, submit annual report and Form 10-K or Form 20-F as filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, or any equivalent forms filed with similar authorities in other jurisdictions that demonstrate the required capital investments, or submit financial statements certified by an internationally recognized and distinguished independent auditing firm in which the required investments are evidenced. If these documents are not available or they do not evidence the required investments, companies must submit a sworn statement by the regulatory agency with jurisdiction over the relevant operations, establishing the total required investment amounts in exploration and production projects in which the operator has participated, without being a requisite for the operator to have directly made these investments. Certified copies of contracts, concession titles or certified copies of the cover pages of exploration and production contracts (not including service contracts) or letters issued by the regulatory authorities with jurisdiction over the relevant operations under those contracts or titles that evidence the required experience. Resumes of the personnel that demonstrate 10-year minimum experience in managerial and operational positions in offshore exploration and production projects and, taking them together, performance of the following: design and execution of exploration and production plans and approval of budgets related to the investment and expenses of hydrocarbons exploration and production projects. The following positions shall be considered: project manager, operations director, drilling director, production director, exploration director or similar positions with similar duties. Each resume shall specify the name of the companies in which each member of the proposed personnel has worked, as well as such member s roles and responsibilities, years of service, names of immediate superiors and contact information for a person who may validate the information. 7 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

8 TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS OF AN INDIVIDUAL BIDDER OR A DESIGNATED OPERATOR THAT WILL BE VERIFIED 4) Demonstrate experience in industrial security and environmental protection within the last five years. Must have experience in the implementation and operation of industrial security systems, operations security and environmental protection in facilities or exploration and production projects, such as the following, without limitation: ISO (for the environment in general and considering an external certification), API RP 75 (for offshore security; this one does not have a certification requirement), IGS Code (international code for security management, applicable to moveable and jack-up platforms). SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO EVIDENCE THE TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONS EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS The system for managing industrial security and environmental protection of the bidder with an opinion issued by a specialized international firm indicating that the bidder follows international practices for operations in offshore exploration and production projects. The bidder must indicate its current system type and the system to be used if selected as the winning bidder, as well as the technical certification, inspections or resolutions that it has and that evidence the required experience. FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO EVIDENCE FINANCIAL QUALIFICATION Must demonstrate the requirements of section 1 or 2 below: 1) Demonstrate: 1.1 Total assets with at least US$10 billion in value, and 1.1 (a) In the case of companies listed on a stock exchange or issuers of securities, submit an annual report and Form 10-K or Form 20-F filed before the US Securities and Exchange Commission or any equivalent forms filed with similar authorities in other jurisdictions that demonstrate the total assets indicated; or (b) Submit financial statements certified by an internationally recognized and distinguished independent auditing firm that demonstrate the total assets indicated. 1.2 An investment-grade credit rating by Fitch Ratings, Moody s Investors Service or Standard & Poor s Rating Services, or 1.2 The credit rating document must be issued by any of the following rating agencies: Fitch Ratings, Moody s Investors Service or Standard & Poor s Rating Services. Only the credit rating documents issued by offices of these agencies located in New York, London, Paris, Toronto or any city in Mexico will be accepted. The documents must demonstrate an investment-grade rating. 8 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

9 FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS 2) Demonstrate shareholders equity of at least US$1 billion. In the case of a designated operator in a Consortium or Association (Asociacion en Participacion) 1, shareholders equity of at least US$600 million (as long as the consortium as a whole meets the conditions in section 3 below: Additional Financial Criteria for Consortia or Associations) (Asociación en Participación). SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO EVIDENCE FINANCIAL QUALIFICATION (a) In the case of companies listed on a stock exchange or issuers of securities, submit an annual report and Form 10- K or Form 20-F filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission, or any equivalent forms filed with similar authorities in other jurisdictions, that demonstrate the indicated shareholders equity; or (b) Submit financial statements certified by an internationally recognized and distinguished independent auditing firm that demonstrates the indicated shareholders equity. ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL CRITERIA FOR CONSORTIA OR ASSOCIATIONS REQUIREMENTS 3) If the operator does not meet the financial criteria set forth in 1 and 2 above, the consortium or association members must demonstrate aggregate shareholders equity of at least US$1 billion, provided that such amount must be met with the equity of no more than three consortium or association members (including the operator). 4) In the case of a consortium or association, the operator must have at least 1/3 of the economic interest in the consortium or association, and no consortium members can have an economic interest that is higher than the operator s. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS (a) In the case of companies listed on a stock exchange or issuers of securities, submit an annual report and Form 10-K or Form 20-F filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission, or any equivalent forms filed with similar authorities in other jurisdictions, that demonstrate the indicated shareholders equity; or (b) Submit financial statements certified by an internationally recognized and distinguished independent auditing firm that demonstrates the indicated shareholders equity. FORM CNH-4 Private Agreement of Joint Proposal (Convenio Privado de Propuesta Conjunta). 1 The Asociación en Participación is regulated by Articles 252 to 259 of the General Law of Mercantile Companies (Ley General de Sociedades Mercantiles) and defined as a contract by which a person grants a participating interest in the profits and losses of a mercantile business or of one or more commercial operations to a person that contributes goods and services. 9 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

10 Each individual bidder or consortium member must also submit specific information relating to the source of funds held, its corporate ownership structure, management, tax returns, audited financial statements, and other financial, legal and corporate information as further specified in the bidding terms. The required legal documentation consists of a certified incorporation charter, bylaws, legal representative information and supporting documentation, among others. Foreign companies shall submit documents with the corresponding apostille pursuant to the Hague Convention of 1961 or under consular legalization. The prequalification documentation must be delivered in two different folders, one containing the technical, financial and legal documentation and the other containing the source of funds documentation. Proposals and Awarding of E&P Contracts DELIVERY AND OPENING OF PROPOSALS Only companies or consortia that have prequalified may submit proposals. Proposals must follow the specific instructions included in the bidding terms. Proposals are to be made per contract area. Each proposal must be comprised of two different sealed envelopes, one containing the economic proposal and the other containing the bid bond (US$2.5 million standby letter of credit). The economic proposal per contract area must specify: Share of operating profits offered to the state; and Multiplier of the minimum investment commitment. Together with the economic proposal, the bidder must deliver a bid bond (garantía de seriedad) consisting of a standby letter of credit for the amount of US$2.5 million in favor of the CNH and issued by a credit institution that has legal operations in Mexico. The bid bond must have an effective term of 60 days after the delivery of the proposal. The purpose of the bid bond (or seriousness guaranty, as referred to in the bidding terms) is to guarantee the execution of the contract by the winning bidder, or the bidder in second place that is then selected, and the delivery of the corporate guarantee and performance guarantee under the terms of the contract. The proposal of the winning and second place bidders will remain valid for 60 days following delivery. Bid bonds of non-winning bidders will be returned at the opening of the proposals, except the second place bidder s bid bond, which shall remain valid for 60 days after submission. The bid bond may be drawn by the CNH if the winning or second place bidder withdraws its proposal after the awarding of the contract, if the winning or second place bidder is unable to execute the awarded exploration and production contract, or if the corporate guarantee and performance guarantee for the exploratory period as required by the contract are not delivered to the CNH contemporaneously with the execution of the contract. All documents are to be presented in person by legal representatives of the bidders. The opening of proposals will take place in a public act attested by a Mexican notary public that will be live streamed via Internet. Bids will be read out loud. The winning and second place bidders per contract area will be publicly announced in the same act. Minutes of the event will be published thereafter. ECONOMIC CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION OF WINNING BIDDER The winning bidder per contract area will be determined based on a weighted formula that factors in the share of operating profits offered to the State and a multiplier of the minimum investment obligation per contract area: V = (.90 x share of operating profits offered to State) + (.10 x multiplier of the minimum investment commitment.) 10 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

11 The multiplier of the minimum investment commitment is calculated as follows: Multiplier of the minimum investment committee = [2,500 (additional investment)] 1/2 In case of a tie, the winning bidder shall be the bidder that, among the tied bidders, offers the highest one-time cash payment to the State. Such cash payments must be offered in writing within 20 minutes of the declaration of the tie. If the tie persists, the bidder will be chosen by a random (insaculación) drawing among the tied bidders. Upon the publication of the final version of the bidding terms (scheduled for June 15, 2015) at the latest, the Ministry of Finance (Secretaria de Hacienda) will determine the minimum acceptable amounts for the two variables of the economic proposal. JOINT BIDDING GROUPS Two or more companies may submit a joint bid without having to jointly incorporate a legal entity pursuant to the following rules: The data room and registration fees need to be paid by one of the joint bidders. Joint bids may only be submitted by prequalified joint bidders; no additional company that was not part of the joint bidding group at the prequalification phase may be included in the joint bidding group unless it has prequalified on an individual basis and CNH consent is obtained. No merger between bidders will be authorized. No company can form part of more than one joint bidding group. No consortium member may have a participating interest that is higher than that of the designated operator. The joint bidding group must enter into a Form CNH-4 Private Joint Bidding Agreement. A joint bidding group may not include more than one Major Oil Company (Compañía Petrolera de Gran Escala), which individually or together with its affiliates had an average daily production of 1,600,000 barrels of oil equivalent in Joint bidders may, but have no obligation to, jointly incorporate a new legal entity to perform the obligations set forth in the Private Joint Bidding Agreement, provided that they remain individually responsible for those obligations. CNH consent is required to add or remove joint bidding group members after the prequalification phase or to modify the participating interest of any of the members; otherwise, this would be a cause for dismissal of their proposal. The CNH must grant approval of the modification if the following conditions are met: (i) the request is timely made, (ii) no change of operator is proposed, (iii) the designated operator s participating interest remains at 30 percent or higher and (iv) no joint bidding member has a higher participating interest than the operator. CONTRACT AREA LIMITATIONS Bidders may only submit one proposal per contract area, directly or indirectly, either individually or through a consortium or association. Bidders may submit proposals for a maximum of five contract areas. PROPOSAL DISQUALIFICATION AND BIDDING ROUND CANCELATION A bidder s proposal may be dismissed when the bidder does not follow the bidding terms and rules, including if a bidder s economic proposal does not meet the minimum amounts set forth by the Ministry of Finance. The CNH will declare the annulment of the bidding process, partially or completely, if there are no proposals or qualified companies or if all proposals are dismissed. The CNH may cancel the bidding round at any moment and for any reason. 11 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

12 RECOURSE The only recourse to challenge the awarding resolutions is the indirect amparo (juicio de amparo indirecto), which is a constitutional process to judicially challenge acts by executive authorities. EXECUTION OF CONTRACTS The CNH may only execute exploration and production contracts with Mexican-incorporated mercantile entities that meet the following criteria: The entity is a tax resident of Mexico; The entity s corporate purpose is exclusively the exploration and production of hydrocarbons; and The entity is not subject to the optional consolidation tax regime (Régimen Opcional para Grupos de Sociedades) included in Chapter VI of Title 2 of the Income Tax Law. Any winning bidder or member of a winning bidding group that is not a Mexican entity must incorporate a Mexican entity for the execution of the contract. In the case of a winning bidding group, alternatively, all the members may form one jointly owned Mexican entity, which shall not include any different owners and owership interests than those originally included in the bid. Simultaneously with the execution of an exploration and production contract, each winning bidder must deliver to the CNH a corporate guarantee and a performance guarantee. The corporate guarantee must be granted by the ultimate parent of the winning bidder, or, in the case of a consortium or association, the ultimate parent of each of its members, with the purpose of guaranteeing all obligations under the contract, including all payments to the State. The performance guarantee consists of a standby letter of credit issued by a Mexican bank to guarantee the contractor s obligation to carry out the minimum work program during the exploration period and its extensions. The amount of the performance guarantee is not established at this point but will be related to the minimum investment obligations of each contract area. Contemporarily with the execution of the contract, the winning bidder must also deliver to the CNH the following documentation relative to the Mexican entity that will act as the contractor(s): Incorporation charter; Powers of attorney of its legal representative; and Other tax and corporate information, as further described in the bidding terms. If the winning bidder does not deliver the above documentation or does not timely execute the contract for reasons attributable to it, the CNH may award the contract to the second place bidder, provided it meets the awarding criteria set forth in the bidding terms. For inquiries related to this Legal Update, please contact any of the following lawyers: Dallas Parker dparker@mayerbrown.com Jose Valera jvalera@mayerbrown.com Pablo Ferrante pferrante@mayerbrown.com Gabriel Salinas gsalinas@mayerbrown.com Mayer Brown is a global legal services organization advising many of the world s largest companies, including a significant portion of the Fortune 100, FTSE 100, DAX and Hang Seng Index companies and more than half of the world s largest banks. Our legal services include 12 Mayer Brown Mexico s E&P Round One Kicks Off: Bidding Terms for Shallow Water Areas Released

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