Only 9 of 25 firms in Mexico oil auction make offers

Only nine of 25 global energy firms and consortiums who qualified for Mexico's first oil auction made offers on Wednesday, officials said, as big oil companies shunned the sale.

Norway's Statoil, Italy's ENI and India's ONGC Videsh Ltd were among the few that made proposals for 14 shallow-water fields in the Gulf of Mexico, but US giant ExxonMobil and Anglo-Australian firm BHP Billiton stayed out, according to the National Hydrocarbon Commission.

A consortium led by one of Mexico's newest independent energy firms, Sierra Oil & Gas, was declared on Wednesday the first winner of the country's historic oil auction.

The group won a contract for one of the 14 oil blocks up for grabs after offering to give the state nearly 56 percent of proceeds, said the National Hydrocarbon Commission.