Luis Ferrán Arroyo

Q: What role can The Mudlogging Company play in helping PEMEX and external companies working in Chicontepec to optimize production?

A: New technologies have to be developed for the kind of complexity seen in Chicontepec. Both vertical and horizontal wells are important in amassing as much production as the reservoirs in the area could yield. To help in the process, we will have to continue developing new mud logging technologies that are better suited for fractured reservoirs and horizontal wells. This has been part of our focus since we started working in Chicontepec. So far, we have worked on some wells that have a horizontal component and we need to adapt our technologies to such horizontal wells. The development of Chicontepec will also involve a lot of workover operations. Even though mud logging has not much involvement in workover operations, The Mudlogging Company will try to be involved in the mud cuttings‘ collection and interpretation phase. Chicontepec poses a very complex problem to all involved and PEMEX recognizes it has yet to bridge a significant gap in terms of implementing new technologies. It has been working with five or six external companies to develop different technologies. However, it is likely that more players will come in with other technologies once the government starts tendering those assets that PEMEX is not allowed to keep. Even if new operators are coming to Chicontepec, the country’s oil industry will continue to have a limited number of service providers. For the mud logging business, only three or four companies are able to perform accordingly in the Mexican market. We will have the opportunity to contact new players and inform them about the expertise we have amassed in Mexico so that they can make a decision on who to select for their operations. We are also looking into forming alliances with international companies that can bring new technologies, in addition to mud logging, to better serve our clients. We understand that we are facing two different scenarios. We are service providers, not operators, so we want to continue being a leading mud logging service provider aligned with whoever can offer new technologies. At the same time, we want to be able to work with new operators and we are confident about capturing several as clients. By associating with companies that can provide us with different technologies, we hope to merge various sources of information and create complete data banks from drilling, mud logging, seismic, PVT, and other surveying techniques to increase our clients’ visibility of their fields.