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 Business News | February 2007 
As Expected, Mexico's Top-Producing Oil Field to Yield Less in 2007 than 2006: Pemex CEO
 Associated Press
| | The view from above an underwater oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. (Webshots) |
Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex expects its highest-producing oil field to yield 14.5 percent less this year than in 2006, the company's chief executive officer said Wednesday.
In his first news conference since taking the helm of Pemex in December, CEO Jesus Reyes Heroles said the company expects its Cantarell oil field to produce an average of 1.53 million barrels a day of crude oil in 2007, down from 1.79 million barrels a day in 2006.
Cantarell is Mexico's largest single source of crude oil, and its sharp decline over the past year has been the source of concern, as the government relies on oil and related taxes for more than a third of its income. Mexico is also one of the top foreign suppliers of crude oil to the U.S.
Reyes Heroles said part of the lost production will be replaced with expanded output at Ku-Maloob-Zaap, which should be producing between 780,000 barrels per day and 800,000 barrels per day by the end of 2008.
Cantarell output fell to 1.5 million barrels per day in December 2006, down from 2 million in the year-earlier month, partly affected by poor weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. In January, production at the oil field picked up again to 1.6 million barrels per day.
Carlos Morales, head of Pemex's exploration and production division, said Pemex will invest about $14 billion this year in that division, of which $1.7 billion will be for exploration.
Reyes Heroles said that ideally, Pemex needs to invest $15 billion a year in exploration and production to maintain an overall crude oil output platform between 3.05 million barrels per day and 3.1 million barrels per day.
Pemex produced an average of 3.26 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2006, compared with 3.33 million barrels per day in 2005, and a record 3.38 million barrels per day in 2004.
Other alternative sources to Cantarell in the medium and long term are the onshore Chicontepec basin, and potential deep-water reserves, Reyes Heroles said.
Deep-water prospects require much higher investments, and the company lacks the necessary technology.
President Felipe Calderón, who took office Dec. 1, wants Pemex to be able to make technological alliances with other oil companies. While some opposition legislators have said they'll support legal changes to allow for alliances, they say they won't consider a constitutional amendment or any privatizations.
Oil and gas concessions are banned under Mexico's constitution. |
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