Pemex to invest additional $6 billionin Cantarell oilfield

Mexican national oil company, Pemex, will pump an additional US$6 billion into its beleaguered Cantarell oilfield to maintain its current production levels.

The heavy oilfield, located about 80km off Ciudad del Carmen in the Bay of Campeche, is home to most of Mexico’s oil production. Comprised of several fields, including Nohoch, Ixtoc, Kutz, Chac, and Akal, Cantarell was the largest offshore development in the world at the time of its discovery in 1976. The discovery put Mexico on the map in terms of oil production, and cemented the ties between Mexican cultural identity, Pemex, and oil industry.

Production, however, has been on a steady decline, despite Pemex’s intervention attempts. Cantarell produced 440,000bod of crude in 2013, nearly 80 percent below its 2004 peak of 2.1MMbod.

Miguel Angel Lozada, Pemex’s Cantarell administrator told reporters that the sizable investment aims to produce additional 100,000bpd through secondary recovery over the course of a decade to counteract Cantarell’s decline.