At least eight oil companies to bid in Mexico Trion tender

At least eight large oil companies will participate in Mexico's tender to partner with state oil company Pemex to develop the deep-water Trion field in the Gulf of Mexico, two sources from the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) said.

Mexican subsidiaries of BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron Corp., Inpex Corp., Total Exxon, Shell and Mitsubishi Corp. will bid on Dec. 5 to be part of the Joint Operating Agreement with Pemex, the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Pemex will own about 45 percent of the consortium formed for exploration and production in Trion, located in the Perdido area in the Gulf near the U.S. border.

One more company could qualify for the tender in the next few days, one of the people said.

The list of participants rose to eight from six after the CNH allowed companies more time to prepare the documents and payments necessary to take part in the bidding.

The contract will be awarded the same day that the government will auction potentially lucrative exploration and production contracts for 10 other blocks.