A total of 11 companies have submitted prequalification requests for an ongoing process to farm out shares in seven small onshore field “clusters” operated by Mexican state oil company Pemex, despite expectations that the process may be cancelled, writes Kathrine Schmidt.

Since new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office last year, his administration said it would suspend bid processes opening up acreage access to foreign companies until results could be proven from rounds already in place.