Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Pemex reduces oil and gas drilling by 42%; planned well count slumps down from 994 to 580; gas ouput to take a dip

Where many oil and gas companies are planning an aggressive drilling programme globally, Mexico’s state oil monopoly, Pemex will drastically cut down the number of wells planned to be drilled this year.
  • A nearly two-thirds drop in planned drilling at the Chicontepec oil project as well as sharply reduced development activities at natural gas fields in the northern Burgos basin near the Texas border account for much of the planned reduction, according to the plan which was released by the National Hydrocarbons Commission on Tuesday.
  • Overall, Pemex will drill 580 wells this year, including 32 exploration probes, compared with 994 wells last year.

  • Many Pemex contractors like Schlumberger Ltd and Halliburton are still reeling from a slowdown in oil and gas activity in Mexico that began in 2010.
  • Chicontepec, a massive, challenging onshore area , on which billions of dollars have been invested till now, has consistently failed to yield as much oil as Pemex has promised.
  • Burgos lies over some of the most bitterly contested drug smuggling territory because of which its activities were hampered by drug gang activity in 2010.               
  • Pemex drilled 816 exploration and development wells in its northern region, which includes Chicontepec, Burgos and several smaller developments, last year.
Oil to rise, Gas to fall!
  • The natural gas output is estimated to  fall from 6.986 billion cubic feet per day to 6.132 billion cubic feet per day by December 2011.
  • The major reduction in wells will come from the Canterall oilfield.


  •  Burgos gas production will decline by 11.5%.
  • Oil will take a jump to 2.626 million barrels per day by December 2011 which is about 2% more than the oil output last year.
  • Chicontepec oil production is forcasted to rise to 70,000 bpd by December 2011 from 59,000 bpd at the end of 2010.

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