The general director of Petrleos Mexicanos ( Pemex ), Octavio Romero Oropeza , said that this year will be developed 20 new fields of exploration and production of hydrocarbons through service contracts for private develop infrastructure and drilling for the state oil company, the which half have already been signed. In addition, the activities of the current farmout contracts and the processes to award seven new associations will continue.
"We have signed just over half of the infrastructure and drilling contracts and at the time, when it is authorized, we will disclose the results with the economies involved," he said at the morning press conference of the presidency of the Republic.
In March and the end of April, it considered that it will sign all of these contracts in which a new contracting scheme is carried out in which consortiums that are groups of companies were formed, without specifying the exact number of contracts.
Of the 20 fields, he reiterated that 16 of these are located in shallow waters, of which 12 are in Tabasco, four in Campeche, and four on land.
Within the land fields, he mentioned that these services will be contracted in the Ixachi field, five kilometers from the gas pipelines to incorporate oil and gas into the national production in the short term.
"In the field of exploration is doing important activity with discoveries on land. What is discovered, as in Crdenas, in Tabasco , is being evaluated the total of the deposit, with a lot of pressure, the valves had to be closed, and this year will be incorporated, "he said.
Therefore, these new fields will not be developed through association contracts or farmouts in which the private ones would act as operators of all the fields. Even so, the current farmout processes are maintained, that is, the set of seven contracts in areas to be tendered is located between the states of Veracruz, Tabasco and Chiapas, which cover a total area of approximately 4,580.8 square kilometers and have a volume of total reserves of 405.1 million barrels of oil equivalent.
According to the National Hydrocarbons Commission, in these tenders there are 13 authorized participants to pay the inscription to the contest, which are California Resources Corporation, China Offshore Oil Corporation, Spanish Petroleum Company, Deutsche Erdoel, ECP Hydrocarbons, Frontera Energy Corporation, Galem Energy, Gran Tierra, Hokchi Energy, Petrobal, Southerngeo Mexico, Tecpetrol and Vista Oil & Gas.
In addition, activities continue in the three contracts of associations with Pemex of the Trin field , in deep waters, with the Australian BHP Billiton, as well as Crdenas Mora and Ogarrio on the ground with the German DEA Deutsche and the Egyptian Cheiron, although according to the director of Pemex for now is not the logic of the current administration to continue with the allocation of farmouts.
"Those who received these contracts, until they extract oil, that was the agreement, when they begin to produce we will review the possibility of continuing with these contracts because until now we have no production," said President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador.
The detailed plan of the new contracting schemes will be announced on March 18 during the anniversary of the oil expropriation in the Tula, Hidalgo refinery, assured President Lpez Obrador.
kgarcia@eleconomista.com.mx