PEMEX Restarts Operations at Complex Engulfed by Fire

Mexican state oil company PEMEX reported on Monday that its 421,000 barrels per day production has resumed as planned on one of its flagship facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, bringing back online its operations following disruptions caused by the deadly fire at an offshore platform on August 22. 

In accordance with the company’s own schedule announced by Director Octavio Romero, the August 30 deadline for restarting operations has been met and the KMZ’s E-Ku-A2 processing platform is back online. The fire that had consumed PEMEX’s most productive oil field, knocking out up to 25 percent of Mexico’s total oil production, in addition to enforcing harsh pressure on the prices in the market and on PEMEX’s own production. 

“The activities to resume oil production in this Sonda of Campeche complex were carried out in compliance with and fulfillment of the policy and principles of Safety, Health, and Environmental Protection (SSPA), without accidents that affected personnel, nor incidents in the facilities or damages to the environment,” said PEMEX in their announcement. Both the company and other service providers were involved in the efforts.

A total of 1.6 million barrels have been lost, equivalent to US$25 million in lost revenue, stemming from the total 58 percent of production affected by the fire, as revealed by the company. Also, 125 wells part of the Ku-Maloob-Zaap complex in the shallow waters near the state of Campeche have been restored. This lost production has not had an impact on exports, nonetheless. Deliveries of the Maya crude produced at KMZ were normal and unaffected, said S&P Global.

As reported by MBN, Romero had previously reassured that neither a lack of maintenance nor the government’s austerity measures were to blame for the fire; a gas leak was instead the cause. Mexico is still on track to meeting its 1.8 million barrels a day objective by the end of the year, assured by President López Obrador. In fact, PEMEX’s income in July overcame expectations, closing with a net annual growth of 59.8 percent, according to data revealed by the Service Tax Administration (SAT). Initial estimates had put the Mexican mix at US$41.4 per barrel, but the real numbers during the first seven months of the year placed the price at US$58.2 per barrel instead. Nonetheless, production fell short of estimates at 1.67 million daily barrels, 100,000 barrels less than expected.