Partnering Brings Both Growth, Opportunity

Japanese IOC INPEX and its partners PEMEX and Chevron are making progress with the blocks the consortium won in the recent bidding rounds, with plans on track to start drilling on Block 22, says Ryo Manabe, General Manager of INPEX Corp., after the group obtained approval for its exploration plans in May 2019. “Our seismic data allowed us to restructure our original plan and make some very effective cost reductions,” Manabe says about Block 22, a 2,879km2 stretch of water in the Salina Basin. “We are in close communication and are having extensive discussions with Chevon and PEMEX to decide our next steps. We also have accelerated our program. It is a very exciting time.” Once all the data has been analyzed, we will drill an exploration well in late 2020 or early 2021,” he says. Manabe adds that the consortium’s work in Block 3, a 1,687km2 area in the Perdido Basin, has also pushed ahead with subsurface evaluation. “The processing and interpretation of the collected seismic data is underway.” 

The lengthy maturity process required in deepwater blocks suggests production remains years away. But this fact has not stopped Mexico climbing the ladder within INPEX’s global portfolio. “Mexico is one of our highest priority exploration areas in our global portfolio.” Manabe believes that partnering is important in Mexico and he is aware of the vast capital required to establish a foothold in Mexico’s highly competitive but still evolving market. “In Mexico, partnering is key to participation and this is what we will continue to do in the midterm. For now, our business model is structured to make joint bids” he says. “We have built a great partnership among Chevron, PEMEX and INPEX through the activities in blocks 3 and 22,” Manabe says. “We would like to maintain our relationship for these blocks and future potential opportunities.” 

Manabe offers praise for Chevron, which as the operator in both blocks holds a 33.3 percent participating interest in Block 3 and 37.5 percent of Block 22. “Chevron is exceptionally well-managed. We openly share information at the early stages of our processes and this allows us to move forward together.”