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Hydrocarbons Seminar “Fundamentals of the Hydrocarbons Sector in Mexico” generates proposals and knowledge

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On April 26th and 29th of this year, the two scheduled sessions of the Hydrocarbons Seminar “Fundamentals of the Hydrocarbons Sector in Mexico” were held at the H. Chamber of Deputies, an event addressed to legislators and public in general; whose objective was to disseminate the essential concepts, categories, data and information of the oil and gas value chain.

The Deputy and President of the Energy Commission, Manuel Rodríguez González, was in charge of the inauguration and closing of the sessions, along with Deputy Mario Delgado. According to Rodríguez, the country has an “unfortunate and sad dependence on energy from abroad,” about 94% of the gas consumed is imported and 80% of the fuels as well.

The panelists of the first and second session where composed by BP Mexico’s CEO Angelica Ruiz, Dr. Aldo Flores-Quiroga specialist in Energy, Ulises Neri from CNH, Ulises Lopez from ANIQ, Gaspar Franco from UNAM, Rodrigo Ochoa and Mr. Salvador Ugalde from E & Y. During the second day, the exhibitions were in charge of Dr. Adrian Duhalt, Mr. Jesus Rodriguez, Ms. Nerea Chacartegui, Mr. Jose Luis Vitlagiano, Mr. Ricardo Ortiz, Mr. David Zarate, Ms. Graciela Alvarez Hoth promoter of the iniciative “Energy Voices” and Luis Felipe Echavarria.

The main topics at the meeting where the regional context of gas, its introduction to the market, security of supplies, distribution, gas feed transportation infrastructure, sustainability’s criteria, risk management and vehicles’ use.

During the seminar’s closing, Deputy Mario Delgado Carrillo, president of the Political Coordination Board said that the production of gas is a huge opportunity that has been wasted and its use could change the energy sector. “It is being left aside, and it is the vein that is needed”.

Relief On Horizon for Mexico Natural Gas Market, Despite Short-Term Challenges

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Natural Gas Intelligence / Andrew Baker / November 12

Mexico’s natural gas market faces multiple short-term challenges, the most urgent of which is a lack of supply to power generators, petrochemical plants, and industrial consumers in the southern and southeastern part of the country, as the state-owned oil and gas producer struggles to increase output.

Amid declining gas output by national oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and delays to critical midstream infrastructure that would bring abundant and inexpensive gas from Texas, consumers in southern Mexico now face the prospect of switching to more expensive fuel oil, diesel and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in order to continue operating over the coming months.

A lack of Pemex supply and scarce available cross-border pipeline capacity for private sector gas shippers, as well as a dearth of storage capacity, are compounded by the fact that a new government will take over on Dec. 1.

However, relief appears to be on the horizon. The 2.6 Bcf/d Sur de Texas-Tuxpan marine pipeline is expected to enter operation next month or in January, with the Cempoala compressor station reversal project slated to finish in April. Both projects should provide relief to consumers in the south, the energy ministry’s general director of natural gas and petrochemicals, David Rosales, told NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index.

While details of a planned tender to construct 45 Bcf of underground storage capacity still need to be ironed out, Rosales said the hope is for the new administration to give an order to proceed with the tender by early next year.

“I think it’s very clear for them that this is a [project] that will not cost the state, and will be paid for by the users of the gas system themselves,” Rosales said.

The incoming administration has generated unease among investors with its proposed oil policies, such as a pledge to halt crude exports and to divert Pemex investments from exploration and production to new refineries, but Rosales said a dramatic shift in course on natural gas policy is less likely. An efficiently run gas segment translates directly to cheaper electricity prices for end-users, he noted.

Recent days have also seen progress on other cross-border pipeline projects that should help meet rising demand from the power sector.

San Antonio, TX-based Mirage Energy Corp. last week said it has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for reserved capacity on its proposed Texas-to-Mexico gas pipeline with commodities trader TrailStone NA Asset Holdings LLC.

The nonbinding MOU would allow TrailStone to purchase 150,000 MMBtu/d (146 MMcf/d) of reserved capacity for 10 years at a fixed tariff from the Banquete/Agua Dulce area in South Texas to Compressor Station 19 and Los Ramones interconnection points on the national pipeline network Sistrangas,” Mirage said. TrailStone is a partner and commercial operator in the recently commissioned Banquete header near Corpus Christi, TX.

The 42-inch diameter, bi-directional pipeline system under development would include nearly 140 miles of pipeline in Texas and about 103 miles of pipeline in Mexico. In addition to the four sections of pipelines in the two countries, Mirage said another interconnect in Falfurrias, TX, also in far South Texas, to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) is being considered, as is a 14-mile pipeline in Mexico known as the Storage Line that would connect the Progreso, TX, on the border to the Brasil storage field in Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Mirage expects to begin final development work on the project in December, “with a view toward receiving required United States and Mexico permits and authorizations in 3Q2019. The company has completed the necessary engineering and design of the pipeline. The alignment for the pipeline has also been substantially completed and Mirage is in the process of securing right-of-way agreements.”

Valley Crossing To Supply CFE Import Capacity

The Mirage news follows the startup of Enbridge Inc.’s Valley Crossing gas pipeline, which spans 168 miles in Texas from the Agua Dulce hub near Corpus to the Gulf of Mexico east of Brownsville.

Valley Crossing’s primary customer is Mexican state power utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), which is undertaking a massive shift to combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) from fuel oil and diesel-fired power generation capacity. Mexico’s installed CCGT capacity stood at 28,084 MW at the end of 2017, a figure that is expected to double by 2032, according to the Energy Ministry’s 2018-2032 power sector development program.

“Valley Crossing is expected to account for about half of the CFE’s total import capacity,” Enbridge said last week. Transport capacity is “half the average daily production output of the entire Eagle Ford Shale basin — in fact, it’s more than 10% of the average daily production for the entire state of Texas.”

The pipeline is designed to “support Mexico’s growing electricity generation needs, as power companies like the CFE choose natural gas,” which is a “cleaner” burning fuel and more economical than imported liquefied natural gas, the Calgary-based operator said.

“Supply in Mexico continues to decline, but at the same time their demand continues to grow,” said Enbridge Executive Vice-President Bill Yardley. “And the U.S. has some of the most economical, plentiful and reliable natural gas supplies in the world.”

Valley Crossing connects to the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline, a joint venture of Sempra Energy unit Infraestructura Energética Nova and TransCanada Corp.

Fitch Bullish On Mexico Power Sector

A FitchRatings unit said last week it holds a positive outlook for Mexico’s gas-dependent electric power sector over the next 10 years, despite uncertainty over the energy and infrastructure policies of incoming President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is commonly known by his initials AMLO.

“We expect the Mexican power sector to register strong growth and offer investors significant opportunities over the coming decade, thanks to rising energy demand, a supportive market structure and favorable policies,” Fitch analysts said. “Our positive view for the market is premised on the expectation that AMLO will adopt a pragmatic approach and will not reverse reforms of the power sector that contribute to attracting investment in the market.”

Fitch analysts said they expect “Mexico’s total installed capacity — net of project retirements — to increase by almost 30% between 2018 and 2027, driven primarily by the development of wind, solar and thermal power projects. Moreover, we expect Mexico’s power consumption to increase by an annual average of 2.4% over the same period.”

Although wind and solar capacity is expected to increase the most on a proportional basis to current levels, conventional thermal power is seen accounting for about two-thirds of the country’s total capacity through 2026, Fitch said, citing projections from Mexican energy ministry Sener and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Despite the overall optimistic outlook, analysts cautioned that, “AMLO’s unorthodox approach toward decision making for the infrastructure sector could weaken private companies’ interest in investing in the market.” Fitch cited investor unease over López Obrador’s recent decision to cancel a $13 billion airport for which construction was more than 30% complete via a referendum in which only about 1.1 million of Mexico’s 129.2 million people voted.

Other risks to the power sector include López Obrador’s ability, because of the comfortable majorities held by his coalition in both of the national legislative chambers, to reverse the 2013-14 energy reform of predecessor Enrique Peña Nieto.

“AMLO has long opposed the liberalization of the Mexican energy sector, although his criticisms have mostly focused on the oil and gas industry rather than the electricity industry. A risk of changes to the power sector’s regulatory framework, however, must be taken into account.”

Fitch also cited the risk of an economic slowdown in Mexico, but noted that this risk is mitigated by the tentative agreement reached Oct. 1 by Mexico, Canada and the United States on the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement, an updated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The agreement has yet to be completed.

 

Natural Gas Intelligence / Andrew Baker / November 12

 

U.S. oil prices rise as Gulf platforms shut ahead of hurricane

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Reuters / Henning Gloystein / September 3

 

* Storm Gordon to make U.S. landfall as hurricane

* Brent dips as India takes steps to continue Iran imports

* Global oil markets have tightened since 2017 – Barclays

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) – U.S. oil prices edged up on Tuesday, rising back past $70 per barrel, after two Gulf of Mexico oil platforms were evacuated in preparation for a hurricane.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $70.04 per barrel at 0034 GMT, up 24 cents, or 0.3 percent from their last settlement.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Monday it had evacuated and shut production at two oil platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico ahead of the approach of Gordon, which is expected to come ashore as a hurricane.

International Brent crude futures, by contrast, lost ground, trading at $78.10 per barrel, down 5 cents from their last close.

This came as India allowed state refiners to import Iranian oil if Tehran arranges and insures tankers.

Many international shippers have stopped loading Iranian oil as U.S. financial sanctions against Tehran prevents them from insuring its cargoes.

Mirroring a step by China, where buyers are shifting nearly all their Iranian oil imports to vessels owned by National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC), this means that Asia’s two biggest oil importers are making plans to continue Iran purchases despite pressure by Washington to cut orders.

CHANGING MARKET

Britain’s Barclays bank said on Tuesday that oil markets had changed since 2017 when worries about rising supply were more evident.

“U.S. producers are resisting temptation and exercising capital discipline, OPEC and Russia have convinced market participants they are managing the supply of over half of global production, the U.S. is using sanctions more actively, and several key OPEC producers are at risk of being failed states,” Barclays said.

Crude oil “prices could reach $80 and higher in the short term”, the bank said, although it added that despite these developments global supply may exceed demand next year.

For 2020, Barclays said it expects Brent to average $75 per barrel, up from its previous forecast of just $55 a barrel.

French bank BNP Paribas struck a similar tone, warning of “supply issues” for the rest of the year and into 2019.

“Crude oil export losses from Iran due to U.S. sanctions, production decline in Venezuela and episodic outages in Libya are unlikely to be offset entirely by corresponding rises in OPEC+ production due to market share sensitivities,” the bank said.

“We do not expect oil demand to be materially impacted in the next 6-9 months by economic uncertainty linked to U.S./China trade tensions and recent concerns over emerging markets,” he added.

BNP Paribas expects Brent to average $79 per barrel in 2019.

 

Reuters / Henning Gloystein / September 3

 

Amlo and the realities of Mexico’s oil reform

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Petroleum Economist / Craig Guthrie / July 9

 

The Mexican president-elect needs a strong oil and gas sector to fund a promised social transformation

The investor-friendly tone Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, widely known as Amlo, struck in the run-up to his landslide victory on 1 July is fueling confidence he will tweak rather than dismantle the energy reforms that are enticing international oil companies to the country.

Prospects of an Amlo presidency had stirred concerns among investors for months ahead of the vote—he’s the first leftist Mexican president since the 1930s, and has forged an anti-elitist platform calling for a reordering of the political landscape. And yet the peso gained more than 2% against the US dollar in the hours after the result.

“This can be a presidency ruled by reason and legality,” Ixchel Castro, manager of Latin American oils and refining markets research with Wood Mackenzie, tells Petroleum Economist, while pointing to the currency market’s reaction and the links he’s built with Mexican business elites. “There may be change in the emphasis of the energy reforms, but we see a reversal as highly unlikely”.

Launched by outgoing President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013, the reforms ended Pemex’s 75-year monopoly over the energy sector. So far, auctions in January and March jointly lured at least $100bn in oil exploration investment commitments from more than 70 different firms—useful revenue for a president who has promised sweeping social changes to tackle crime, corruption and poverty.

Amlo made opposition to the reforms a bedrock of his failed 2013 presidential bid, and told a rally just four months ago that he would never allow Mexican crude to return to the hands of foreigners. But a reversal in tack since has seen his top business adviser and nominee for chief of staff, Alfonso Romo, lead a pro-business public relations drive towards international investors.

Romo told Reuters on 25 June that there could be more auctions of oil drilling rights, as long as a review of contracts that have already been awarded to private companies showed no problems. “We will revise them and everything good will remain,” he said, noting that Amlo had said this directly to investors in New York.

But it’s not expected to be all smooth sailing for foreign oil investment under Amlo’s watch. Uncertainty over the long-term goals of his populist agenda will likely continue to unnerve companies looking to establish a steady pipeline of projects.

“Amlo will likely enjoy the benefits from the existing contracts that have been awarded, especially in terms of oil barrels produced, fiscal revenue received and jobs created. By the third year of his administration he can claim that Mexico is producing more oil under his presidency,” Duncan Wood, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre wrote in an e-mail.

“But he will be reluctant to continue the bidding rounds. The one possible exception that I see would be in deep waters and in farm-outs from Pemex.”

Mexico plans to auction 37 onshore areas and nine in the shale gas-rich Burgos Basin on 27 September, as well as the farm-out of seven onshore areas with Pemex on 31 October.

Amlo’s approach to a planned re-shaping of Pemex is seen as the next critical indicator of his eventual intentions on the country’s energy direction.

While the president has pledged to resurrect Pemex into a strong national oil company through cost-cutting, this comes amid a significant decline in domestic energy production—from 3.4m barrels of oil a day in 2004 to 1.9m b/d in 2018.

“Pemex must be forced to compete in order to become stronger,” said Wood. “If the reform process is stopped, Pemex would gain from a strengthening of its position in the short-term. But in the long term its competitiveness and productivity could be severely damaged.”

 

Petroleum Economist / Craig Guthrie / July 9

 

 

Competitive fuel market is still some years off, analysts say

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Mexico News Daily / Mileno / June 25

 

Time, more investment required before gas prices will drop

It will take another two to five years to attain a truly competitive fuel market with lower gasoline prices for motorists, according to industry specialists.

The federal government’s 2013 energy reform opened up Mexico’s retail fuel market to foreign and private companies and there are now more than 2,000 gas stations that operate under a brand other than the state-owned Pemex.

But the increased competition hasn’t translated into cheaper fuel prices as had been expected.

“It was thought that it would be faster but that’s not the case,” said Rodrigo Favela, a consultant and fuel market analyst.

Favela told the newspaper Milenio that based on experiences in other countries, creating a competitive market takes time.

In addition, greater competition in the retail fuel market is not enough on its own to generate lower fuel prices, according to Mexico’s central bank.

In its regional economies report for the last quarter of 2017, the Bank of México said greater investment is needed in the entire gasoline supply chain from the refinery to the gas station in order for prices to drop.

Sebastián Figueroa, CEO of energy operator FullGas, told Milenio that gas stations in the north of the country could start competing on price within one to two years.

He cited proximity to the United States, the presence of existing pipelines, greater ease with which fuel can be imported and lower logistics costs as factors that will likely see fuel prices drop more quickly there than in other parts of the country.

In central states, Figueroa predicted that it would be another three to four years before competitiveness among gas stations increases due to the need for more infrastructure while in the southeast of Mexico, it could take up to five years or more.

In the latter region, the development of the new infrastructure that is needed — such as pipelines —is more complicated because of geological factors, he said.

Considering that fuel prices have actually risen since Mexico’s previously monopolized fuel market opened up, Milenio asked the president of the Senate’s energy committee whether energy reform should be considered a failure.

Salvador Vega Casillas, of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), rejected that suggestion but said it was a mistake to liberalize fuel prices at a time when the value of the US dollar was high against the peso. Gasoline prices were fully deregulated by November 30 last year.

However, Figueroa said that if the government had waited any longer to free prices, more problems could have been created for the sector because a subsidized model is not sustainable.

He maintained that the reform is a positive for Mexico, charging that having only one participant in the downstream sector led to inefficiency whereas competition forces gas stations to offer better deals to motorists.

Federal Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquín Coldwell has also contended that an open and competitive market is the best way to achieve gasoline prices that are accessible to all Mexicans.

Favela explained that there are three main factors that determine the price of petroleum at the pump: international crude oil prices, the prevailing exchange rate and logistics costs.

In order to generate a more competitive market, he argued, all petroleum companies should have non-discriminatory access to the nation’s oil terminals and ports.

Despite opening up the domestic fuel market to new players, the majority of Mexico’s petroleum infrastructure is still controlled by the state oil company Pemex.

The average price of regular — or Magna — gasoline has risen 17% this year, according to the consultancy PETROIntelligence, from 16.24 pesos per liter at the beginning of January to 19 pesos. Prices were as high as 19.11 pesos on Friday in Guadalajara.

 

Mexico News Daily / Mileno / June 25

 

La importancia de la Línea Base Ambiental

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De conformidad con los artículos 27 párrafo séptimo de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos; 15 de la Ley de Hidrocarburos y 38 fracción II de la Ley de Órganos Reguladores en Materia Energética, para llevar a cabo las actividades de extracción de hidrocarburos, los particulares o empresas productivas del Estado deben celebrar un contrato con la Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH).

En dicho contrato, se establece la obligación de elaborar, en un plazo de 180 días después de la Fecha Efectiva (la fecha de firma del Contrato), los estudios para definir la Línea Base Ambiental (LBA), previo al inicio de las actividades petroleras, la cual debe ser presentada ante la Agencia de Seguridad, Energía y Ambiente (ASEA).

La LBA se refiere a “las condiciones ambientales en las que se encuentran los hábitats, ecosistemas, elementos y recursos naturales, así como las relaciones de interacción y los servicios ambientales, existentes en el área contractual, al momento en que se elabora el estudio para su determinación”. Permite identificar daños ambientales (los que ocurren sobre algún elemento natural a consecuencia de un impacto ambiental adverso) y daños preexistentes (los pasivos ambientales presentes en el área contractual).

A través de la LBA se determinan las responsabilidades del contratista, el cual sólo podrá excusarse de los daños ambientales y daños preexistentes que hayan sido reportados en la LBA; las autoridades competentes, por su parte, vigilarán que el contratista o asignatario que estuviera a cargo del Área Contractual con anterioridad a la Fecha Efectiva asuma la responsabilidad y los gastos relacionados con la restauración y compensación de los Daños Ambientales y la caracterización y remediación de los Daños Preexistentes.

No elaborar la LBA, no hacerlo en los tiempos establecidos o realizarla de manera deficiente, además de ser un incumplimiento legal, puede implicar que el contratista asuma la responsabilidad respecto a daños ambientales, que pudieron haberse ocasionado de manera previa, lo que puede significar el pago de elevadas sumas económicas para remediarlos y/o compensarlos. Al respecto, se debe considerar que el seguro de responsabilidad ambiental sólo ampara los daños ocasionados a partir de su contratación.

En NRGI BROKER sabemos que la elaboración de la Línea Base Ambiental es fundamental por su impacto en el ámbito de la responsabilidad ambiental y como soporte para un adecuado programa de aseguramiento; por eso, nos encargamos de ofrecer a nuestros clientes las mejores opciones en seguros y proporcionamos asesoría legal y ambiental a lo largo de la toda la cadena de valor del Sector Hidrocarburos. Acércate a nosotros.

 

 

Netherland Sewell Adds Mexico City to the 2018 Oil & Gas Property Evaluation Seminar Lineup

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Oil & Gas 360º / May 29

 

NSAI Oil & Gas Property Evaluation seminars coming to London, Singapore and Mexico City this summer

Netherland Sewell & Associates (NSAI) has again expanded the reach of its popular Oil & Gas Property Evaluation Seminars for financial professionals, with the new addition of a seminar in Mexico City on September 5-6, 2018.

“We are very excited to introduce the NSAI Oil & Gas Property Evaluation seminars to Mexico,” said NSAI SVP & CFO Scott Frost. “With the country opening its hydrocarbon sector to foreign investors and international partners, the time is right for NSAI to host a seminar in Mexico.”

Seminars deliver a basic understanding of the upstream oil and gas industry

The two-day seminars are designed to help energy finance professionals gain a deeper understanding of the various aspects of the evaluation of hydrocarbon reserves and learn how to use reserves reports and studies.  Participants can expect to gain a basic understanding of the upstream oil and gas industry, including basic geology of different plays, reservoir evaluation basics, reserves and resources definitions, understanding hydrocarbons-in-place, recovery factors and rates, operating expenses and capital costs, and more.

The seminar speakers are NSAI professionals that have significant career expertise in reserves determination methods, the economics of hydrocarbon extraction, and petroleum geology. The seminars are popular with financial institutions that invest in energy development as well as banks that are involved in making lending decisions for oil and gas exploration and production projects.

Below is the 2018 NSAI Oil & Gas Property Evaluation seminar calendar:

  • May 7 & 8 and 9 & 10, 2018 – Dallas (Both sessions had record attendance with a waiting list)
  • June 26 & 27, 2018 – London: Grange City Hotel
  • July 10 & 11, 2018 – Singapore: Singapore Exchange – SGX Auditorium
  • September 5 – 6, 2018 – Mexico City: Asturiano Polanco Banquet Room

NSAI encourages energy industry and oil and gas financial professionals to pass this information on to colleagues who may benefit from attending. “We are excited about the opportunity to meet again with petroleum industry financial professionals and would like to thank you for recommending our seminars to your colleagues,” said NSAI SVP Joseph Spellman.

Scott Rees, NSAI Chairman and CEO, told Oil & Gas 360® that the firm has graduated about 6,500 people during 38 cumulative years of seminars in Dallas, London and Singapore. “We are glad to be adding Mexico City to that list,” Rees said.

Interested parties may learn more and register at NSAI’s website.

 

Oil & Gas 360º / May 29

 

Proveedores y prestadores de servicios para las operaciones de Exploración y Extracción de hidrocarburos en el mar

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En un sector tan complejo como el de los Hidrocarburos, las empresas no pueden ser autosuficientes, por lo que requieren que terceros les provean de bienes y servicios que les permitan llevar a cabo sus actividades.

La exactitud, prontitud y calidad con la que proveedores y contratistas presten sus servicios son factores indispensables para el adecuado funcionamiento de una organización.

En el caso específico de las empresas que realizan actividades en el Sector Hidrocarburos, al desempeñarse en un ámbito de alto riesgo requieren la certeza de que sus proveedores y prestadores de servicios desempeñarán sus tareas con los más altos estándares de seguridad, para evitar la ocurrencia de accidentes, que pongan en peligro la vida y/o integridad de personas, daños a bienes o al medio ambiente.

Por eso, de acuerdo con las Disposiciones Administrativas de carácter general que establecen las reglas para el requerimiento mínimo de seguros a los Regulados que lleven a cabo obras o actividades de exploración y extracción de hidrocarburos, tratamiento y refinación de petróleo y procesamiento de gas natural (DACGS), emitidas el 23 de junio de 2016, las empresas del Sector Hidrocarburos que realicen las actividades antes mencionadas, deben requerir a sus contratistas, subcontratistas, proveedores o prestadores de servicio que cuenten con pólizas de seguro con las coberturas y montos necesarios y suficientes para amparar la responsabilidad por los daños que pudieran generar con motivo de las obras, servicios y/o actividades que realicen.

En este sentido, es responsabilidad de las empresas titulares de las licencias para operar, asegurarse que sus proveedores y contratistas podrán responder por los daños que llegaran a causar en el desarrollo de sus operaciones, además de que deberán contar con las coberturas de control de pozos, responsabilidad civil y responsabilidad ambiental, de acuerdo con la regulación aplicable.

En el caso de los montos, por ejemplo, una empresa que lleve a cabo la exploración y extracción de hidrocarburos que requiera de lanchas rápidas y embarcaciones menores de servicio y para ello contrate los servicios de otra empresa que se dedique al transporte marítimo, deberá solicitarle sus pólizas de seguro de protección e indemnización (P&I) por un monto no menor a USD 5´000,000 (cinco millones de dólares de los Estados Unidos de América), de conformidad con  el artículo 29, fracción II de las DACGS. En caso de que las embarcaciones que sean utilizadas no estén listadas en el artículo antes mencionado, la fracción V del mismo dispone que la póliza de seguro sea por un monto no menor a USD  100,000,000.00 (cien millones de dólares de los Estados Unidos de América).

En NRGI Broker somos expertos en seguros de protección e indemnización y en regulación en materia de seguridad industrial y protección ambiental. Acércate a nosotros, con gusto te atenderemos.

 

Mexico’s Sureste Basin Returns To Super Basin Spotlight

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From: Hartenergy / 6 April

HOUSTON—The flurry of bidding activity from oil and gas companies willing to shell out millions of dollars for drilling rights in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) during Mexico’s latest bidding round showed there must still be something special about the Sureste (Southeast) Basin.

“I’ve never seen a structure like it in my career,” Mark Shann, subsurface director for Sierra Oil and Gas, said of Sureste during the AAPG’s recent Global Super Basins Leadership conference.

The multiplay basin, which includes prolific sub-basins such as Sonda de Campeche and Chiapas-Tabasco, spans about 65,000 sq km and is believed to hold 50 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the GoM’s shallow water and beyond. Its oil-prone prowess gained prominence in 1976 with Mexico’s game-changing Cantarell oil field discovery. Since then the basin has served as the main hydrocarbon-bearing province for Mexico, which is working to reverse declining production with global players eagerly chomping at the bit in search of oil.

RELATED: Southeast Basin Lures Oil Companies To Mexico’s Shallow Water

The historic Zama discovery made in 2017 by a Talos Energy-led consortium that includes Sierra and Premier Oil and another discovery—Amoca—by Italy’s Eni in 2017 have kept the basin in the spotlight, indicating it still has more to give. The Zama well, the first well drilled by the private sector since Mexico opened its doors to foreign investors, hit 170 m to 200 m (558 ft to 656 ft) of net oil pay in Upper Miocene sandstones. Initial gross original oil in place estimates ranged from 1.4 billion barrels (Bbbl) to 2 Bbbl.

Some would call it the rebirth of a super basin.

Shann said the basin—along with neighboring Tampico-Misantla—has all the qualities of a super basin.

“If you’re going to go into a super basin, you need at least one fantastic source rock and it has to be a mature source rock,” Shann said. He added that multiple reservoirs are also needed. “Having multiple reservoirs takes away the dependency of one reservoir working out or not, and you need seals to hold back hydrocarbons in their reservoirs.”

Having a diversity of traps is fantastic, he added, noting other attributes also define a super basin. These include having a regulatory framework in which to make the entire business work and super data, something Shann said Sureste Basin has plenty.

“Four years ago when we started our company we couldn’t get all seismic data from the country. Today you can access all the seismic,” Shann said. “You can access any well that is older than two years, and there are 39,000 wells in the country. The ability mine data and therefore to compete on an equal level playing field is hugely important,” especially for a small company competing against supermajors.

Sierra has picked up 11,000 sq km of wide azimuth data from Schlumberger and source rock is visible, he said. “The super data has really helped to underpin a story of success in one of the world’s greatest super basins.”

Today Sierra is focused mainly on Sureste, which Shann said extends beyond shallow and into deepwater.

The company said on its website that Sureste’s original oil and gas in place is about 220 Bboe, and the fact that it has numerous mature fields—including Ku Maloob Zaap and Sihil—and little reinvestment signals “significant opportunity for growth.”

Its reservoirs are associated with structural, salt tectonics, stratigraphic and combined traps, and the main structural styles include normal faulting with rotated blocks (Late Miocene-Holocene), salt cored anticlines and salt rollers and diapirs (Jurassic-Late Cretaceous), according to Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission.

In terms of source rock potential, Shann said “we’re definitely in a super basin.” He spoke about how the Zama discovery shed more light on source rock thickness. Taking into account a conservative 50% migration loss among other factors, the company was able to determine the source rock must be about 200 m thick.

Shann said the company and its partners’ plan to test the Jurassic next year.

“Sureste is one of those amazing salt-related basins,” he added, speaking highly of the carbonate potential of the basin in Mexican waters and on the U.S. side. “I think we can still find some big carbonate fields in the Campeche Slope.”

Located about 37 miles offshore, Zama is between Eni’s Amoca appraisal well in the Lower Pliocene and Pan American’s Hokchi 2 in the Middle Miocene.

“Between the three of us, we’re exploiting different parts of this basin, which helps the industry’s understanding of the whole basin,” Talos CEO Tim Duncan told Hart Energy’s Oil and Gas Investor last summer.

RELATED: Talos Energy CEO Talks About Historic Zama Well

Talos, which will merge with Stone Energy, said in its March 15 fourth-quarter earnings release that the company is in the appraisal planning stages for the Zama-1 discovery. Zama-1 is located in Block 7 of the Sureste Basin at a water depth of about 165 m.

Other exploration opportunities exist, according to Talos.

Talos holds a 35% participating interest with Sierra holding 40% and Premier, 25%.

From: Hartenergy / 6 April

 

¿Cuánto costó el derrame del Deepwater Horizon?

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El 20 de abril de 2010, la empresa británica British Petroleum (BP) realizaba operaciones de exploración de aguas profundas en el pozo petrolero “Macondo”, ubicado a 75 kilómetros de la costa de Luisiana, cuando se produjo un escape de gas, que provocó una explosión y posteriormente un incendio que duró 36 horas y terminó con el hundimiento de la plataforma semi-sumergible Deepwater Horizon.

Las consecuencias fueron graves: millones de barriles de petróleo derramados en el mar, lo que provocó una superficie contaminada de entre 86,500 y 180,000 kilómetros cuadrados que pudo contenerse casi tres meses después de la tragedia; afectación a especies animales, algunas de ellas en peligro de extinción; el fallecimiento de 11 personas y otras más que resultaron heridas.

Este siniestro es considerado uno de los peores en la industria del petróleo, no sólo por los daños directos provocados, sino también por los perjuicios resultantes, tales como la afectación causada a las actividades pesquera y turística.

Además de BP, la empresa Transocean –propietaria de la plataforma y encargada de su mantenimiento- y Halliburton, fueron consideradas responsables del siniestro[1].

Tan sólo los pagos erogados por BP ascienden, de acuerdo con las cifras de la misma empresa, a USD 61 billones, por concepto de los costos relacionados con el derrame, limpieza, reclamaciones económicas y pagos al gobierno[2].

Adicionalmente, BP tuvo que enfrentar diversos juicios por los cargos de “negligencia grave” que le imputaron por varios demandantes.

Que una compañía del tamaño y solvencia de BP haya enfrentado problemas financieros a partir de un siniestro, demuestra que todos estamos expuestos a sufrirlos, ya que los costos de un siniestro pueden llegar a ser incalculables.

Contratar un seguro con los montos y coberturas adecuadas, es fundamental para responder por los daños y perjuicios que se puedan causar a terceros, pero además con ello el asegurado consigue el doble propósito de proteger su patrimonio.

En NRGI Broker, somos expertos en seguros petroleros. Acércate a nosotros, con gusto te atenderemos.

[1] Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center. U.S. Scientific Team Draws on New Data, Multiple Scientific Methodologies to Reach Updated Estimate of Oil Flows from BP’s Well [boletín de prensa]. 15 June 2010. Disponible en: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/661583/

[2] Gulf of Mexico restoration, disponible en: http://www.bp.com/en_us/bp-us/commitment-to-the-gulf-of-mexico/gulf-mexico-restoration.html