Offshore staff
MEXICO CITY– Pemex says that it has discovered up to 180 MMbbl of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico’s shallow waters, according to Reuters.
Pemex officials said that light and heavy crudes were found in seven reservoirs along the Mulach and Manik fields in the southern Gulf of Mexico, close to existing infrastructure for production and transportation. The finds are expected to help boost the country’s dwindling oil production.
“These are the reservoirs that will feed the country’s reserves,” Mexican Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell was quoted to say, at a news conference with Pemex executives.
The discovery of proven, possible and probable reserves (3P) in Mulach and Manik follows discoveries announced by Pemex in recent years in four nearby fields. Together they will require $7 billion to $10 billion in investment, including drilling rigs, pipelines, and at least one production platform.
Pemex expects new production from the Xikin, Esah, Kinbe, Koban, Mulach and Manik offshore fields to add up to 210,000 b/d of crude and 350 MMcf/d of natural gas by the second half of 2020.
The first field to add barrels would be Xikin, discovered three years ago, where early production is expected in 2019. The Esah field would follow in the first quarter of 2020.
Mexico expects the downward trend in its oil reserves to turn positive in two years, following a constitutional energy overhaul enacted in 2013, said Joaquin Coldwell.
The new fields will also contribute relatively quickly to Pemex output in shallow waters, where the vast majority of its production originates.
10/11/2018
