Subsidiaries of Russia’s Rosneft and Lukoil energy majors have been allowed to bid on contracts to develop shallow-water oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation’s hydrocarbons authority said.

Sputnik obtained a statement by Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) that said LLC RN-Shelf South and LUKOIL International Upstream Holding had been cleared for the first tender in the second round of bidding.

"In the second phase, companies will offer their prices that will be announced [on June 19]," a source in the know told Sputnik.

Mexico is tendering 15 oil exploration blocks in the oil-rich areas of Tampico-Misantla, Veracruz and Cuenca del Sureste that have probable reserves of almost 1.6 billion barrels. Twenty-six companies will bid on the contracts, 20 of them individually and the rest as consortia, including Chevron, ENI, Pemex, Repsol, Shell, and Total.