CNH Approves Latest Exploration & Drilling Investment Plans

The CNH has granted approval to exploration investment plans this week being made by some of the country’s most important operators.

First on the list is PEMEX. The NOC’s modification to its “transition” plan for the Quesqui field, whose discovery was originally announced in March 2020, has been approved by the CNH. Quesqui, an onshore asset located in Tabasco, is categorized as a “priority” field for PEMEX. This transition plan is meant to turn the five wells already drilled onsite into a full-on production facility. This will require additional exploration and drilling activity to better characterize and delimit the dimensions of the field. This includes drilling 27 wells and the completion of 28 wells, along with the construction of 12 ducts and five platforms. The modifications also call for one additional year to be added to the transition plan’s timeframe to account for operational limitations caused by COVID-19. The investment approved by CNH for the plan, after these modifications, is US$1.027 billion. Through this transition plan, PEMEX hopes to extract a total of 218 bcf of natural gas and 62 MMb.

Next is the major deepwater operator Petronas, through its Mexico subsidiary PC Carigali. CNH has approved its plan for the drilling of the deepwater well named Bacalar-1EXP. The well is located in front of the Veracruz coast, and it will be drilled through a water depth of 1,532m, with geological objectives in the upper and middle Miocene depths. Petronas is calculating a geological exploration success rate average of 27 percent possibility, which is close to half of Mexico’s deepwater geological exploration success rate average of 56 percent possibility but close to the global deepwater geological exploration success rate average of 30 percent possibility, according to MBN’s latest interview with CNH Commissioner Alma América Porres. The payoff is high, however, with prospective resources reaching up to 759MMboe, with a light density of between 25 to 38 degrees API. The drilling of this well would represent an investment of US$60.8 million, and is expected to be concluded by mid October 2021. To read our complete interview with Emry Hisham Yusoff, Mexico Country Head of Petronas, click here.

Last but certainly not least is Mexican private operator Diavaz, who had new modifications to its work plan for its Ébano field approved by CNH. These modifications decrease the number of wells being drilled, from 20 to 12, but increase the volume of investments being made in the field, from US$55.3 million to US$56.3 million. To read our interview with Gumersindo Novillo, General Manager of DS Servicios Petroleros at Diavaz, click here. To read our latest interview with Diavaz Chairman Luis Vázquez, click here.