MEXICO CITY: Royal Dutch Shell snapped up nine of 19 oil and gas blocks awarded in Mexico’s prized Gulf of Mexico deep waters, emerging the clear winner in the country’s biggest auction since the energy sector was opened up to foreign oil firms.

The stakes are high for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and his ruling party, which is keen to showcase the results of the liberalisation ahead of a presidential election in July.

Shell focused on blocks in the Perdido and Salina basins, which were expected to be the most competitive of the 29 areas on offer in the auction. Perdido is close to US waters where oil firms already operate.

Shell won four blocks as a lone bidder, four more in a consortium with Qatar Petroleum and another in a consortium with Mexican state oil firm Pemex.—Reuters