PEMEX Sends Teams Abroad to Study Unconventional Gas

The deployment of technical teams abroad, confirmed by PEMEX's E&P Director at an AMEXHI forum, reveals how far and how fast Mexico's state oil company has moved since President Sheinbaum opened the door to fracking in early April. The mission: understand horizontal drilling, fracture design, costs, and decline curves before the government's scientific committee delivers its verdict in June.

PEMEX has sent teams of engineers and technical specialists to the United States, Canada, and Argentina to conduct first-hand analysis of unconventional gas operations, according to Octavio Barrera, the company's Director of Exploration and Production. The confirmation, made at a forum organized by the Mexican Association of Hydrocarbon Companies (AMEXHI), represents the most concrete operational signal yet that Mexico's state oil company is actively building the technical knowledge base required to develop its own non-conventional resources, should the government's scientific review conclude that doing so is viable.

"We have been visiting some areas in the Permian, sending technical groups to Canada and visiting South America as well," Barrera stated at the forum. The disclosure came just one day before President Claudia Sheinbaum formally unveiled the interinstitutional scientific committee that will have two months to determine whether next-generation extraction technologies can make shale gas development viable in Mexico under acceptable environmental conditions.

The Sites and the Scope

PEMEX’s missions reflect a deliberate strategy to benchmark against the world's most productive and varied unconventional gas environments. In the United States, the teams visited the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, which in 2025 produced 6MMb/d of oil and 22.2Bcf/d of dry natural gas, equivalent to 44% and 19% of total US production, respectively, according to Energy Information Administration estimates.

In South America, the focus was Argentina's Vaca Muerta formation, where Barrera specifically highlighted the operations of YPF and Tecpetrol. The work in the field centers on data from horizontal drilling, fracture design, costs, completion timelines, productivity rates, decline curves, and infrastructure requirements, the precise technical variables that would determine whether a Mexico-based unconventional program could be commercially viable and operationally sustainable. Barrera also underscored the challenge of developing non-conventional assets in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner, noting the importance of more efficient technologies, improved materials, and water recycling.

The Strategic Imperative Behind the Missions

The missions are grounded in a structural vulnerability that has defined Mexico's energy supply for years. Mexico currently consumes approximately 9Bcf/d of natural gas, of which only 2.3Bcf/d are produced domestically by PEMEX, while 6.8Bcf/d are imported, a 75% import dependency sourced predominantly from Texas. That dependence has been repeatedly cited by President Sheinbaum as an unacceptable strategic exposure, particularly given recent global price volatility and Middle East supply disruptions that have pushed global oil prices above US$97/bl.

Mexico holds substantial unconventional resources. According to the LinkedIn analysis published by energy consultancy Marcos y Asociados, the country holds 141.5Tcf in prospective unconventional resources and 12.3 trillion cubic feet in proven (1P) gas reserves. If those resources were incorporated into domestic production, Mexico could theoretically cover more than 50% of its gas demand by 2030, a figure that aligns with SENER's stated target of producing 5Bcf/d domestically.

PEMEX, however, acknowledges openly that it does not currently possess the technology or operational experience to develop unconventional reservoirs independently. The company has signaled that realizing this potential will require private partners, new E&P contract structures, legal certainty for investors, and the development of entirely new domestic supply chains, none of which exist at the necessary scale today.

The Scientific Committee and the Road to a Decision

Sheinbaum's scientific committee, led by UNAM President Leonardo Lomelí and including directors of the IPN, UAM, and state universities from Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Veracruz, and Coahuila, has been tasked with delivering its preliminary assessment within two months, with Coahuila named as the likely pilot state due to its geological characteristics and lower population density.

Financial analysts caution that the economics of unconventional development in Mexico will also require fiscal incentives to attract private capital, similar to the arrangements that enabled Argentina's Vaca Muerta to scale. Sergio Kurczyn, Director of Economic Studies, Banamex, has flagged potential impacts on public finances if such incentives are required. Separately, analysts at El Universal have noted that Mexico's judicial reform and lingering uncertainties over legal certainty for investors make attracting the specialized capital and expertise harder than in comparable markets.

The water dimension will be central to the committee's deliberations. Each unconventional well requires between 10 and 14L million of water, up to 10 times more than conventional drilling, a particularly sensitive issue given that the most prospective formations in the Burgos, Sabinas, and Tampico-Misantla basins lie in states classified by CONAGUA as facing high water stress.