Cantarell details

I was looking for some numbers on the decline of the Mexican giant oilfield Cantarell. They are not good:

At Cantarell, where a drop in pressure is making it more difficult and costly to extract oil, the company pumped 1.017 million barrels a day, down 35 percent from a year earlier and the fastest rate of decline in 12 years, Pemex said. The company is pumping 33 percent more from the Ku-Maloob-Zaap field to make up for the decline at Cantarell.

Cantarell is the third largest field in the world, and it is to Mexico what Ghawar is to Saudi Arabia. As Mexico was the number two exporter to the US in 2007, the decline in this field is painful.

PEMEX reform vote getting closer

The period of debate over Felipe Calderon’s proposal to allow foreign partners to work with PEMEX is now over, and the vote in Congress should happen soon. If the reforms are not passed, PEMEX intends to partner with foreign firms in deals outside of Mexico to gain the experience it needs to develop some promising areas in deep water Gulf of Mexico:

July 22 (Bloomberg) — Petroleos Mexicanos, struggling as oil production declines, may drill for crude outside Mexico for the first time unless lawmakers approve hiring foreign partners for domestic offshore projects.

Chief Executive Officer Jesus Reyes Heroles said the company, known as Pemex, may court partners on the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Cuba and in Latin America unless Congress adopts oil reforms proposed by President Felipe Calderon. Pemex needs foreign help because it doesn’t have the technology to drill in water deeper than 500 meters (1,640 feet), he said.