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Pemex to lower its natural gas production in 2009
MEXICO CITY
Petroleumworld.com, Mar 05, 2009Mexican state oil company Pemex is forecasting that its natural gas production in 2009 will fall for the first time since 2002.
Output is expected to slip on lower associated gas production at the prolific Cantarell field, which is in its stage of natural decline, Pemex spokesperson Carlos Ramírez said, citing PEP authorities.
The company projects 6.45Bf3/d (183Mm3/d) natural gas production in 2009, down 6.76% from the 6.92Bf3/d average in 2008, Pemex E&P subsidiary PEP's deputy director of planning and evaluation, Vinicio Suro, said in a webcast.
The figure is an even sharper decline from the 7.26Bf3/d gas output level recorded in the fourth quarter last year. Production in the first two months of this year averaged 7.05Bf3/d, a member of Pemex's communications department told BNamericas.
Pemex's output was 4.42Bf3/d in 2002, down from 4.51Bf3/d the previous year.
Ramírez described the 2009 production forecast as "conservative."
Cantarell's gas production will go from 1.6Bf3/d in 2008 to roughly 900Mf3/d in 2009, Ramírez cited company executives as saying.
However, authorities have highlighted that the amount of gas sold by Pemex will actually increase despite the drop off in production. Gas delivered to clients was 5.64Bf3/d in 2008 and is expected to rise 5.04% to 5.92Bf3/d in 2009.
The forecasted increase in gas sales reflects reduced flaring, Ramírez said, adding that he was not immediately able to clarify what amount of reduced flaring would be attributed to new infrastructure versus the drop in associated gas production.
Pemex's goal is to flare 7% of gas produced in 2009, with flaring down to just 3% by year-end, Suro said in the webcast.
By comparison, Pemex flared 19.3% of gas produced in 2008 and 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to Pemex statistics.
Sulfur oxide emissions, which made up 83.6% of all Pemex's emissions, increased 78.8% compared to 2007, company CFO Esteban Levín told the webcast.
The greater sulfur oxide emissions were due to increased flaring of sour gas in the company's northeast marine region, which features the Cantarell and Ku-Maloob-Zaap projects.
Story from Manufacturing Business Technology
MBT 03/04/2009
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