Total and ExxonMobil have decided to relinquish their exploration and production rights to a deepwater block in the Mexican part of the Gulf of Mexico, citing disappointing results so far. The companies will have to pay a US$21m fine for failing to comply with the minimum exploration work mentioned in the contract.
In December 2016, Total and ExxonMobil were awarded an exploration licence for the Block 2 in the Perdido basin, following the first competitive deep water bid round in Mexico; Total was operator with 50% and ExxonMobil held the remaining 50%. In addition, Total won a participating interest of 33.3% in the Blocks 1 and 3 of the Salin basin (33.34% Statoil and 33.3% BP).
Other companies, such as Hokchi Energy (Mexico) or Talos Energy (United States), have also relinquished some of their offshore exploration rights after winning blocks in Mexico.