New Business Model for Separation Services

Created from the expertise and human resources of IFAMESA, part of the former Mexican industrial giant Bufete Industrial, Octopus Group had clear experience with Pemex in a number of industrial areas from day one of its creation. Two of IFAMESA’s strongest areas in its business with Pemex were the production of pig launchers and separators. Today, both of these are strong areas for Octopus, but it is the separator business that the company has really developed in recent years to add move value to its o†ering. “Today, we have moved from simply providing separators to the market, to creating tailored products that include valves, instrumentation, and piping. These can also be places on skids, ready to plug in and go,” explains José Pablo Mendoza Escalante, CEO of Octopus Group. Separators are used at the wellsite to divide well fluids into gases and liquids. Gravity is the normal method used to achieve separation in the units, where the heavy fluid sinks while the less dense fluid moves to the top of the separator.

Mendoza Escalante is extremely optimistic for Octopus’s separation business, and hopes that in the future, Pemex will approach separation in the same way that it currently approaches drilling. “Right now, Pemex contracts drilling services to third parties as a service – they do not buy the drills and drill themselves, particularly in complex areas. We hope that something similar will happen with separation. We just have to work with the operational side of Pemex to help them convince the executive levels of the company to try using companies like Octopus as their separation service providers, rather than just buying the equipment from us.” Mendoza Escalante says. “This will have particular value in regions like Chicontepec, where wells have a relatively short life cycle, and Pemex would be able to pay a service provider for the amount of gas separated rather than paying for multiple separator units. Octopus can leverage its highly portable separator units to maximum advantage in a region like Chicontepec.” Although separation activities are important for Pemex, Octopus’s portable units have many di†erent possible applications beyond separation, including lubrication, cooling and gas control units for power turbines, gas measurement, chemical injection units, dehydration and desalination units, as well as de-sanding activities, and produced water treatment, something that will grow in importance in Mexico once the country starts to produce more unconventional resources. Furthermore, Octopus Group is participating in Pemex’s gas flaring reduction project, using the associated gases to produce electricity instead of burning them.