PEMEX to Boost Reserves to Secure 10 Years of Consumption

PEMEX's new work plan prioritizes increasing reserves to ensure at least 10 years of domestic consumption. Sustainable production remains a challenge for PEMEX due to decades of declining output and mounting debt. The government has sought to reverse this trend, emphasizing energy self-sufficiency in fuel production, a policy carried over from the previous administration. However, under former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the goal of fuel self-sufficiency was repeatedly postponed.

The company aims to increase reserves through the drilling of 269 exploratory wells across six strategic projects: Integral de Veracruz, Cuichapa, Comalcalco, Uchukil, Chalabil, and Campeche Oriente. To support these efforts, PEMEX will conduct 38,000km2 of seismic studies to enhance subsurface knowledge and guide exploration activities. The initiative will require an investment of MX$220 billion (MX$10.724 billion), with the goal of incorporating over 2Bb of recoverable crude reserves.

The second stage of PEMEX’s work plan is sustainable production. The goal is to produce no more than 1.8MMb/d of liquid hydrocarbons throughout the six-year term. This will be achieved through more than 2,000 drilling operations and 1,300 major repairs, involving twelve strategic projects that will contribute 61% to production: Burgos, Trion, Lakach, Ixachi, Zama, Yaxché, Bakte, Teckel, Kayab-Pit, Ayatsil, Maloob, and Cantarell. The investment allocated for production will be MX$1.6 trillion, with estimated revenues from production projected at MX$5 trillion.

PEMEX’s CEO Víctor Rodríguez highlighted the importance of gas in the strategy due to its use in the country. One of the objectives is to increase production and reduce imports, aiming for a production level of 5Bcf/d, with more than a thousand drilling operations and 970 major repairs. Four strategic projects for natural gas have been identified: Burgos, Ixachi, Quesqui, and Bakte, with an investment of MX$238 billion and an expected revenue of MX$1.9 trillion. Reducing flaring is also a central objective in the natural gas strategy.