Pemex Reactivates Oil Production in the Campeche Sound Region

During the commemoration of 40 years of oil production in the Sound of Campeche, the CEO of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Octavio Romero Oropeza, announced the company will reactivate oil production in the area, which will receive 67 per cent of the budget of Pemex Exploración y Producción (PEP), to be used in the exploration and development of shallow water fields in the area, as well as the  Tabascan shores.

This will call for a great collective effort, and he stated that, “In Ciudad del Carmen we will increase hiring of oil workers, which will stimulate the local economy.”

Romero Oropeza assured that, throughout the seven months of this administration, important progress has been made at Petróleos Mexicanos, such as fighting fuel theft, developing new fields, as well as financial rehabilitation of the company and investment mechanisms. “Decision-making has become a more agile, faster process, and it is always based on our current austerity policies and zero tolerance to bribery,” he pointed out.

Speaking before the oil workers, the CEO stated that this year, Pemex will drill 50 wells, 20 of which are already in the process of being drilled or being finished. To date, one hundred per cent of the infrastructure of the 20 new fields has been successfully contracted, and the contracts required for the additional developments in the Onel and Yaxché fields is still pending; this translates into the development of 22 new fields.

He explained that the company has optimized the schedules and expenses required for the development of the fields. Thus, comparing current costs to 2018 prices, these have been reduced by approximately 23 billion pesos. The company currently anticipates reaching over 24 billion by the end of the hiring process.

He indicated that the construction process of the contracted infrastructure has been advancing in accordance with the initially established goals and is currently 37 per cent completed. Offshore and onshore construction works are currently at 12.4 per cent.

During the event, which also commemorated the “Day of the Engineer”, Romero Oropeza said that, out of the 20 new fields discovered to date, Ixachi is the most important one, as this field will produce 80,000 barrels of light crude oil per day and over 600 million of cubic feet of gas per day by 2022. That is to say, 220,000 barrels of crude oil equivalent.

On the other hand, he highlighted the achievements of the administration with regard to fuel theft, which meant ​losses of 56,000 barrels per day in 2018, which have been reduced to losses of 5,000 barrels per day. This means that, during the period of 2014-2018, fuel theft caused losses of 100 billion pesos to the company, 78% of the total debt of Pemex that will be due in 2019.

He reaffirmed that, since he took over the company’s management, he established strict financial discipline policies, and the payoff is that all investments for 2019 are being fully funded by the company’s own earnings, using the amounts saved through the application of the current austerity measures, as well as financial support provided by the Federal Government. “Our investment projects do not, as of today, cause any debt at all. The present and future of the company hinge on not taking on any new debt,” he said.

Romero Oropeza expressed his deepest recognition to the support of all oil workers, whose performance has been excellent when they set the actions undertaken by this new management into motion.

He stated, finally, that, over the next few days, Pemex will disclose its Business Plan, which details, among other things, the strategy for investment funding over the next few years.​

Las menciones de Pemex pueden referirse a Petróleos Mexicanos o a cualquiera de sus Empresas Productivas Subsidiarias.