Mexico will require royalty payments of 30 to 36 percent for companies that win rights to produce oil in the nine shallow-water fields up for auction this month, the country’s finance ministry said. Companies that win production sharing contracts to drill in the Gulf of Mexico will have to pay a rate that varies depending on the obligation of each field, according to the e-mailed statement. Mexico won’t require companies to pay an additional royalty for the investment that goes into production and development of each field, known as the work program. The announcement of the minimum financial requirements prior to the awarding of the contracts is one of several adjustments made by the Mexican government to attract more bids than in July, when only two of 14 blocks were awarded to private companies. In the country’s first auction of oil blocks to private companies, Mexico announced the required […]