PEMEX Hits Reserve High, Protexa Awards Contract

Following predictions of increased production last month, there have been more positive news for PEMEX this week after it broke the spell of a 13-year 3P reserves decline. The NOC also had more exploration wells awarded, while Protexa granted another contract on the Maloob field and insiders offered their thoughts on growth in Mexico.

All this and more in The Week in Oil and Gas.

PEMEX Reserves Grow to Record Levels

PEMEX achieved a substantial milestone this week when it reversed a 13-year downward trend in its reserves and hit 1.927 billion boe of 3P reserves. The López Obrador administration has put the revitalization of the NOC as one of its major priorities during the administration and its efforts are paying off. This is an increase of 65 percent in 3P reserves compared to 2018, when the government came to power.

The new reserve high is the result of new exploration strategies including the priority field developments and the incorporation of 42 wells, reported the administration. It also predicted that in 2021, 84 wells will be incorporated into the company’s 3P reserve count, taking 3P reserves to 2.1 billion boe.

PEMEX Director Octavio Romero said in October that production would also increase, with 1.94MMb/d and 2.296MMb/d predicted to be produced by PEMEX by the end of 2020 and 2021 respectively. The director said that the company’s exploration success has shown that it has a competitive edge on other operators like Petrobras, Shell and BP.

CNH Grants PEMEX Shallow Water Exploratory Wells

CNH granted PEMEX a further two exploratory wells as the NOC continues its aggressive exploration policy to increase reserves further following this week’s 13-year high. The two shallow water exploration wells, Saap-1Exp and Copali-1Exp will require US$37.2 million and US$30.5 million respectively.

Saap1Exp is part of the AE-0152-Uchukil assignment, where the Zama reservoir is located, while Copali-1Exp is part of the AE-0148-Uchukil assignment located off the coast of Veracruz. Copali is thought to have 36MMboe of prospective resources.

Protexa Grants LOC Mexico Third Contract in 2020

Though the COVID-19 crisis is very much present in the industry, companies are pushing ahead with developments in various sectors. Mexican oilfield service mainstay Protexa, via its subsidiary Permaducto, has contracted the marine engineering consulting firm, LOC Mexico to provide a marine warranty survey (MWS) of two submarine pipelines: KMZ-101 and KMZ-103, located in the Maloob field off the Mexican coast.

This is the third contract LOC Mexico has been awarded by Permaducto this year. Pablo Martinez-Cruz, Energy Director of LOC Mexico, said “this contract is important to consolidate LOC’s leadership position in providing MWS services in Mexico and reflects the ever-expanding reputation in the Caribbean and Northern Latin-America energy market.”

Industry Insiders Share Their Views

More industry insiders representing major company players spoke to MBN this week to share their views on the state of the industry in Mexico and how their companies are progressing.

Jesús de la Garza, Director General of API Tamaulipas told MBN that the state’s ports will play a key role in deepwater developments. He addressed Matamoros port’s maintenance dredging ahead of activity, how CNOOC was wowed by Matamoros and the APIs role in the government’s reorganization of ports nationwide.

David González, Managing Partner at Net Brains offered eye-opening insights into the tech side of the industry, including the company’s work with PEMEX and CNH, as well as its focus on data interpretation and reservoir characterization for privates, among other issues.

Vicente González Dávila, Director General of Geo Estratos, told MBN about the company’s expansion into upstream, the customization that a company of Geo Estratos’ size can offer in cost-efficient field services and its application of conventional technologies to unconventional resources.