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Pemex obtains approval for higher investment at Ek-Balam field

Bnamericas
Pemex obtains approval for higher investment at Ek-Balam field

Mexican hydrocarbons commission CNH approved an investment hike of around US$440mn to Pemex’s development plan for its Ek-Balam field in Campeche Bay. 

The increase will help the national oil company recover losses from incidents last month, continue duct network upgrades, and boost production. 

With the commission's blessing at a meeting on Thursday, the Ek-Balam development plan for 2023-39 was updated from US$669mn to US$1.1bn, with around half going to one spudding, two terminations, the construction of seven ducts, 10 major repairs and 508 minor repairs.

Pemex expects the plan to allow it to reach production of 230Mb (million barrels) of oil and 55Mf3 (million cubic feet) of gas at the country's most important and costliest contract.

David Alberto Paredes from CNH’s technical extraction and supervision unit said the NOC seeks to recover 3.9Mb of oil and 3.4Mf3 of gas during August-December, following a duct leak and fire at the beginning of July. 

On July 26, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza refuted claims that an oil spill at Ek-Balam had polluted an area of 400km2 and reached the coasts of Tabasco and Campeche states. He said a 7cm crack on one of the field’s 24km network of ducts was detected on July 3 and repaired within 18 days, with a loss of 76b/d. 

The repairs took longer than expected because efforts were directed to the nearby Cantarell field, where a fire at the Nohoch platform left two dead and one missing on July 8. 

“This caused the producer to shut down the post-production process in the contractual area, which directly impacted the accumulated production for this year,” Paredes said. 

Ek-Balam’s duct network has reached its 30-year lifespan and Pemex has stepped up efforts to upgrade the infrastructure.

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