Petroleos Mexicanos, reporting small declines in Mexico’s oil and gas reserves in 2005, said it has offshore and land projects lined up to reverse the decline if the government approves its budgets in coming years.
However, even stemming the declines would seem to require the participation of outside companies technologically savvy in deepwater operations. Mexican law does not permit such associations.
Nitrogen injection is temporarily sustaining the output level at the Cantarell complex in the Gulf of Mexico, but Pemex reports sharp production declines in most of its other producing areas.
Meanwhile, Pemex announced that electric logs at a deepwater wildcat in the southernmost gulf indicated a possible supergiant oil accumulation.
And Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, seeking to foster coal mine safety, approved a measure that would allow Mexican coalmine operators to produce and use coalbed methane and sell excess gas to Pemex. This would end Pemex’s monopoly on gas rights.
Senate approval and a presidential signature are still required. Mexico has vast coal fields in Coahuila and Sonora.
Pemex Exploration & Production said the country’s official proved oil reserves sank to 16.5 billion bbl at yearend 2005 from 17.6 billion bbl a year earlier. Gas reserves slid to 20 tcf from 20.4 tcf.
Proved, probable, and possible reserves total roughly three times proved reserves alone.
Pemex E&P in February released a list of 15 oil and gas E&P projects it said contain combined proved and probable reserves of 21 billion bbl of oil and 18 tcf of gas (see graphic above). Peak production years from those projects range from 2006 to 2029. Seven of the projects involve waterflooding, gas lift, or nitrogen injection.
Earlier in the week, President Vicente Fox said Pemex had encountered potentially significant hydrocarbons at the Noxal-1 exploratory well. Pemex officials said the well is in 935 m of water, a record for Mexico, 102 km northeast of Coatzacoalcos.
Projected to 4,000 m, the well had been drilled to 3,432 m and penetrated its first objective formation. Production testing will take place later this year, they said.
Mexico lacks the technology to develop deepwater fields alone, and its lawmakers have avoided legislative changes that would permit outside operators to participate (OGJ, Nov. 22, 2004, p. 18). ✦
