AMT: Shallow Water Production Blasts Off

Eni signed the CNH-R01-L02-A1/2015 Production Sharing contract for Area 1 on Nov. 30, 2015, having bid for the shallow water unit in Round 1.2 on October 2015. Area 1, a 67.2km2 unit located in the Cuencas del Sureste Basin off the coast of Tabasco, holds three fields: Amoca, Mizton, and Tecoalli (AMT). Amoca is located in Lower-Middle Pliocene formations, while Mitzon is a Middle Pliocene formation and Tecoalli is found in the Lower Pliocene.  

One well had previously been drilled in each field by PEMEX – Amoca-1 in 2002, Mitzon-1 in 2008 and Tecoalli-1 in 2012 – prior to Eni’s involvement. In 2005, CNH estimated that the area held 3P reserves of 788.1MMboe. Following the drilling of the Amoca-2, Amoca-3DEL, Mitzon-2DEL, Tecoalli-2DEL and Amoca-4DEL wells by Eni between January and December 2017, Eni increased that estimate to 2,100MMboe, of which 90 percent is 28 API crude. To develop the area, Eni will invest about US$1.8 billion by 2040.  

On July 2, 2019, Eni became the first international company since the liberalization of the market to start offshore production in Mexico when it successfully began production on the Mitzon field, located at a water depth of 34m. The Mizton 2 well offered an early production of 5,415b/d in July, which increased to 10,016b/d in October 2019. The oil is being evacuated through Eni’s Onshore Receiving Facility located in Sanchez Magallanes, State of Tabasco. This landmark moment was achieved less than a year after Eni received approval for its development plan and resulted in a meeting between Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and President López Obrador. Production across the Mizton and Amoca fields is to begin in 2021, supported by an FPSO, which will process wet gas produced in AMT, to be stationed in Mizton. Production should hit a plateau of 100Mboe/d, while initial production on Tecoalli is set to begin in 2024. 

Altogether, 32 wells will be drilled across Area 1 while four platforms and an FPSO will also be utilized during the early years of production. A 20km gas pipeline also will be required.