PEMEX’s Ek-Balam Crude Production Keeps Decreasing

Without the NOC’s associates, the sum of PEMEX’s production was 1.525MMb/d in February 2022, which represents a monthly production decrease of 1.33 percent and an annual drop of 4.3 percent compared to 2021. Reduced production at the flagship Ek-Balam field played an important part in these results.

National production of crude oil, including contracts with private companies reached 1.633MMb/d in February, a decrease of 1 percent against the previous month and 2 percent against February 2021. From this national production, 1.470MMb/d came from allocations that were granted to the NOC in 2013, representing the lowest volume for one month in the history of this administration.

At Ek-Balam, a key field where the government recently approved to postpone its production peak until 2023 after setting it for 2022 in the past year, the NOC produced 75,082b/d. This represented a fall in production of 8.4 percent compared to January 2022, although production increased 17 percent compared to February 2021.  Ek-Balam is the NOC’s largest and most productive asset at the moment.  

CNH recently approved a modification to the field’s plan for 2022 to 2039, which proposes recovering 234.1MMb and 56.Mbcf in that period. The NOC’s aim is to drill eight additional wells, finish eleven existing wells, carry out eight major repairs to operating wells, construction of nine pipelines and a new light marine structure for the extraction of hydrocarbons, among other developments.

In December 2021, Ek-Balam reached its highest production yet, reaching 82,585b/d. This volume reduced to 81,986b/d in January, representing 49 percent of the national production via oil contracts.

National production includes the participation of private companies as a result of the 2014 Energy Reform. This represented 163,737b/d in February 2022, registering a monthly decrease of 2.5 but an annual increase of 41 percent.