Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19 -- Production of crude oil in Mexico's main oilfields—Cantarell and Ku Maloob Zaap, in the Gulf of Mexico Campeche Sound—is falling due to water and salt seepage into the reservoirs, official documents reveal.
According to documents of state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos, the seepage is causing a reduction in production equivalent to 84,300 b/d of oil. Pemex said the loss of production due to water and salt dates back to 2004, and is a natural result of the maturing of these fields.
"As in all deposits, the problem of water production in mature fields is not something that can be reversed, but rather it is a situation that must be managed to continue producing crude oil, now with a percentage of water," Pemex said.
In September, Pemex produced an average of 1.5 million b/d of oil from Cantarell, 15% less than in September 2006, the Pemex documents revealed. As recently as November 2006, output of 415,000 b/d at Ku Maloob Zaap field in the Gulf of Mexico had been expected to climb to 800,000 b/d by 2010, partly offsetting Cantarell's decline (OGJ, Nov. 6, 2006, p. 33).
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
