Translating International Experience Into Round One

Wallace Pescarini, Schlumberger's President of Mexico and Central America, points out that there is a considerable difference in operating an onshore field, a shallow water well in the Gulf of Mexico, or a deepwater project in Perdido, and this will be particularly evident when the winners of R1-L03 enter the market. “We know that some young companies entering the Mexican market lack the expertise and the reservoir understanding that we have at Schlumberger,” he explains. In an offshore field, efficiency is vital, and will require a suitable solution, and risk management, planning, and technology play a much more significant role in this environment. In terms of deepwater, Schlumberger is a world leader in services for this segment, where the technical and operational challenges are of a much larger scale. The company’s experience in this area includes operations in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, the North Sea, and Brazil, and the company has already been working with PEMEX on deepwater projects in Perdido, meaning that it is well- equipped to provide solutions to the major players and IOCs.

Deepwater players do not take the short-term oil price into account, but rather tend to consider the environment in a time-scale of five to ten years. However, Pescarini points out that deepwater remains important in terms of reserves and future production, and even though current prices present  many challenges for deepwater production and exploration, the players expected to enter in R1-L04 are those with a substantial deepwater portfolio and a long-term vision. “It is possible that the government may move the round in order to capitalize on a more profitable time for the industry, but in either case the round is sure to attract solid investment due to confidence generated by the production levels in the US side of the Gulf of Mexico,” he comments.

“We cannot overlook the fact that PEMEX has always been, and will continue to be our main client in Mexico,” says Pescarini. Schlumberger is also conducting dialogues with the new operators with which it will be working, and has disclosed that it has already closed contracts with Statoil and other international companies for R1-L04. “We are in talks with all the winners of R1-L01 and R1-L02, and we are in a solid position to provide support to these companies,” Pescarini boasts.