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First Mover Sets the Pace

Iván Sandrea - Sierra Oil & Gas
CEO

STORY INLINE POST

Wed, 02/07/2018 - 09:29

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Q: What are the advantages of being the first independent oil and gas company in Mexico to have such a large presence in the upstream sector?

A: The main advantage of being a first mover is clear cut: a first mover literally has time to organize itself first in terms of people, data, regulatory understanding and presence. A company can start experimenting and interpreting the information that is available. It can also form part of the first group of companies and organizations that are helping the process advance and progress. And hopefully, first mover advantage, if it is combined with the right execution, leads to positive results. In the Gulf of Mexico, Sierra has focused on the core of the Sureste basin, while several other companies that have started late have had to work with scattered assets or form a strategy based on whatever they can acquire. We have been able to execute around a specific, technically-backed, geoscience-based strategy in the lowest cost part of the basin. Also, our consortia drilled the first exploration well after the Energy Reform and have accumulated a great deal of strategic information and logistics experience that only we have. Other companies are drilling development wells, which is good, but exploration wells are always special.

Q: What is behind the strategy that Sierra is forming with its partners?

A: We want to work with the shrewdest, the most interested and the most technically capable partners that are available for any given round. We are looking for complements and seek to play a strong if not equal role in the pre-bid technical aspects of the projects in which we choose to participate. We look to partners that have a particular expertise relevant to the project or that have experience in deepwater and shallow-water exploration and production, as well as having the right scale of processes and reputation. We like diversification but we also like to repeatedly work with those partners that make sense. Sierra owns, on average, a 38 percent working interest across 10,000km2 in six offshore blocks. Because we had first mover advantage and due to the table: proprietary studies, analyses and, of course, the first and most important exploration well drilled in the southeast basin so far. All our partners recognize that. Our strategy is to diversify as much as possible, work with the best, those who contribute the most and to contribute ourselves.

Q: Why is Sierra Oil & Gas forming a cluster in the southeast basin?

A: The Sureste basin is a super-basin with a large acreage and very few wells drilled, especially in the tertiary formations. The tertiary is a younger geological era that has not been exploited to its full potential. We like the structures, we like the water depth, we like the geology and we are looking for those features that provide a low to medium-risk opportunity. In shallow waters, the basin is a continuation of the southeast continental shelf. We are chasing the same trends. We cannot participate in ultra-deepwater exploration areas because we think it does not make sense given how much is potentially at shallower water, and for a company of our size and scale at this moment.

Q: How great do you believe the reserves might be in the Sureste basin?

A: Before positing a hard number in this industry, a company has to evaluate, drill and take risks. Taking all that into consideration and throwing it together we think the Sureste basin offshore has over 20 billion boe of yetto-be-discovered potential. Sierra is sitting on 25 percent of that or more. Our intention is to test that with both committed and noncommitted wells in the future. This is an extrapolation of what we believe the reserves potential should be. It will take years to develop but it is important to have the acreage and start now. There is only one Park Lane. Companies need to obtain, work and investigate the prime acreage to find the prize.

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