Protexa Drills Well in Record Time
Mexican contractor Grupo Protexa announced its drilling of the offshore well Yaxché 600 for PEMEX in record time. The well was drilled in 24 days, reaching speeds of 188m per day, well above the original forecast of 150m per day, thus beating standing national records. This well is part of the Cluster 4 series of service contracts and works that Protexa is executing for the NOC. This is the fifth of nine wells that will be drilled by Protexa as part of its commitments to Cluster 4. The rest of the year will be spent drilling wells Yaxché 800, Yaxché 22 and Yaxché 27. The well Yaxché 44 was also finished early by Protexa back in January.
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Moody’s Downgrades PEMEX
Credit rating agency Moody’s has once again downgraded PEMEX’s credit rating from Ba2 to Ba3, with a negative outlook. The decision was reportedly based on the NOC’s “high liquidity risk”. This means that PEMEX’s current business model does not provide enough profit in the short to medium term to cover parts of its debt that will soon be running into different forms of payment deadlines. Moody’s refers to these parts of PEMEX’s debt as its “high debt maturities”. Moody’s negative assessment of PEMEX’s business plan is based on the NOC’s continued investments on its downstream and refining operations as reflected in the continuing construction of Dos Bocas, its purchase of Deer Park, its continuing rehabilitation of its existing refineries and its increasing percentage of crude being fed into its refining system.
“Wellness Gas” Ready to Launch Soon
President López Obrador said that the planned Gas Bienestar, or Wellness Gas, company will begin operating in about two months. “Gradually, the plan and the facilities are going to be expanded but the program has already been drawn up, we already have the land for the distribution centers, the cylinders are being acquired, the delivery vans, we are already making progress.” He added that the president of PEMEX will head the company. “We are going to have a meeting next week to evaluate how we are doing, to tell people that it is being evaluated. We started here in Mexico City because it is where there was a greater lack of control in terms of increases in the price of gas.” López Obrador said Gas Bienestar will begin operations in Iztapalapa, Mexico City, as a subsidiary of PEMEX. “Progress is being made, preparations are in place to start.” López Obrador said the distribution and commercialization of LP gas would arrive at a time when there is a monopoly in the market made up of five large companies, which, he said, “are behind the rise in this fuel.”
BHP Will Not Leave Trion
A recent press release from BHP has surfaced contradicting the rumors started last week that the Australian natural resources company would abandon all of its oil and gas operations, including its Mexican deepwater venture Trion, by making clear the project’s importance to the company’s portfolio. BHP divulged statements from Trion Project Director Stephan Drouaud which make clear the importance of this deepwater venture in the Australian company’s portfolio. While these statements do not contradict the overall notion that BHP might be divesting from the oil and gas industry, they are intended to suggest that their commitment to the Trion project is long term, or will at least continue as planned until its scheduled FID in 2022.
PEMEX Sends Diesel Tanker to Cuba
A tanker owned by PEMEX and filled with a diesel cargo classified as humanitarian aid shipped for Cuba this week, according to an exclusive report by Reuters. Jose Maria Morelos II departed from the Mexican port of Coatzacoalcos loaded with 20 million liters or about 126,000 barrels of diesel. PEMEX declined to comment on the vessel's content and destination, as also did the foreign affairs ministries of both Mexico and Cuba.