Tag Archive for: oil production

Mexican President Weighs Bids on Huge New Oil Refinery Construction

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Sputnik News / Latin America / December 10

 

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Mexico’s new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Sunday that tenders for the construction of a new large oil refinery in the country’s southeastern state of Tabasco would be announced no later than March 2019.

“The oil refinery will be built here because oil will be processed here as well, it will not be exported. This is the best site for the construction of the new refinery,” Obrador said at a ceremony of the laying of a symbolic cornerstone for the future facility as quoted by the Excelsior news portal.

The Mexican president also confirmed that the state-owned Pemex petroleum company would receive additional $3.6 billion to boost its oil production.

According to Obrador, Mexico will seek to increase oil production from the current less than 1.8 million barrels per day to 2.4 million barrels per day in 2024. The new oil refinery is expected to process 340,000 barrels of oil per day.

 

Sputnik News / Latin America / December 10

 

UPDATE 7-Gulf of Mexico offshore platforms evacuated ahead of hurricane

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CNBC / Gary McWilliams and Liz Hampton / October 8

 

(Adds Anadarko Petroleum cutbacks)

HOUSTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Energy companies on Monday halted nearly a fifth of Gulf of Mexico oil production and evacuated staff from 13 platforms as Hurricane Michael intensified and headed for a path up the eastern U.S. Gulf.

Offshore producers including Anadarko Petroleum Corp , BHP Billiton, BP and Chevron Corp evacuated workers from oil and gas platforms in the Gulf.

Forecasters predicted the storm would become a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 111 to 129 miles per hour (178 to 208 km per hour) and bring heavy seas to producing areas.

Companies turned off 324,190 barrels per day of oil and nearly 284 million cubic feet of natural gas at midday on Monday, according to a survey of producers. Five drilling rigs were moved out of the storm’s path, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.

U.S. oil prices ended mostly flat as traders discounted any long-term effect on output by the storm, projected to be the first major hurricane to enter the U.S. Gulf this year. Crude futures on Monday settled at $74.29 a barrel, down 5 cents.

The storm’s current path is taking it away from refinery-heavy areas along the central and western Gulf.

Anadarko, Chevron and BHP Billiton shut-in production and evacuated staff at two platforms each. BP shut down production at four.

The platforms evacuating personnel and stopping production include Anadarko’s Horn Mountain and Marlin, Chevron’s Blind Faith and Petronius, BHP’s Shenzi and Neptune and BP’s Atlantis, Mad Dog, Na Kika and Thunder Horse facilities, the companies said.

Norwegian state oil company Equinor evacuated its Titan production platform and Exxon Mobil Corp removed staff from its Lena production platform, the companies said. Exxon said it did not expect the staff reduction to affect output.

Hess Corp and Royal Dutch Shell said they were monitoring the storm and would take action as needed. Shell was securing some drilling operations on Monday but facilities were staffed and operating, spokeswoman Kimberly Windon said.

The storm’s intensity is being fed by warm sea surface temperatures and a lack of upper-level windshear, forecasters said. Those conditions should result in 15-foot to 20-foot waves, “enough to be disruptive of oil production operations” west of the storm track, said John Tharp, operations supervisor at Weather Decision Technologies.

Shipping ports including Gulfport and Pascagoula, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, were open on Monday, but the U.S. Coast Guard warned of gale-force winds in the next 48 hours.

Offshore production in the Gulf accounts for 17 percent of total U.S. crude oil output, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas production from Gulf offshore operations provides 5 percent of the U.S. total.

Over 45 percent of U.S. refining capacity is located along the Gulf Coast, along with 51 percent of the nation’s natural gas processing plant capacity, the EIA said. (Reporting by Gary McWilliams and Liz Hampton in Houston Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler)

 

CNBC / Gary McWilliams and Liz Hampton / October 8

 

Mexico oil production to reach 2.6 mil b/d by 2025: Lopez Obrador

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S&P Globals Platts / Wendy Wells / Daniel Rodríguez / September 11

 

Mexico City — Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday he plans to focus on developing and exploring onshore and shallow water areas under the control of state oil company Pemex to boost the country’s oil production.

“We have a projection, and our plan is to have production of at least 2.6 million b/d by the end of the presidential term; additional production of 800,000 b/d,” Lopez Obrador said in webcast press conference.

Lopez Obrador was speaking to journalists after a meeting with Mexican drilling and oil service companies at Villahermosa in Tabasco.

Mexico’s production averaged 1.8 million b/d in July, down from an historical high of 3.4 million b/d in 2004, latest data from Mexico’s National Hydrocarbon Commission showed.

Lopez Obrador said the incoming administration plans to tender drilling contracts in December when his six-year term begins to develop Pemex’s shallow water and inland areas to boost oil production. “We are inviting all companies to participate in these tenders. However, we will have a preference over domestic contractors,” he added.

He said he planned to add Peso 75 billion ($3.9 billion) to Pemex’s exploration and production budget to boost drilling and thus raise output. The tenders will help Mexico reverse its production downtrend by the end of 2019, he added.

Mexico’s oil industry is at a crisis as a result of low public investment in the sector. Pemex in 2017 had an E&P capital expenditure budget of Peso 81.5 billion, down from Peso 222 billion in 2014, the company’s annual financial statements show. The cut in Pemex’s budget resulted in a significant decrease in drilling activity; it drilled 83 wells in 2017, compared with 705 in 2013.

Lopez Obrador blamed the previous administration for Pemex’s lower capital expenditure, claiming it was done on purpose amid expectations the private sector would offset lower activity from the state company. “It has been a complete failure, this wrongly named energy reform,” Lopez Obrador said

The president-elect has historically been an opponent of private participation in Mexico’s energy sector. His critics note Pemex’s spending cuts reflect lower global oil prices after 2014.

The president-elect neither mentioned the long-term nature of the energy sector nor the advances made by Eni at Amoca, PanAmerica with Hotchi and Talos with Zama, where peak production across the three fields could be above 250,000 b/d.

Analysts also point out that Lopez Obrador does not acknowledge that it has been a challenge for Mexico to replace production from the aging Cantarell super field, which produced 2.1 million b/d in 2003 and but 160,000 b/d in July.

Mexico won’t call for new hydrocarbon auction rounds until all 107 contracts awarded to date under the energy reform are reviewed for corruption, Lopez Obrador said.

“The majority aren’t working, there is no investment, but those 107 contracts don’t include all the oil regions in the country, just a fraction of Mexico’s hydrocarbon potential,” he added.

The president-elect did not indicate when this contract review process could conclude. Currently, Mexico’s National Hydrocarbon Commission is organizing two gas-rich auction rounds, which are expected to be awarded in February.

The commission postponed both auctions as well as a Pemex’s auction to farm out seven onshore clusters in southern Mexico from this summer until the coming year, citing a request from the industry for more time to analyze the areas as well as the opportunity to involve the incoming administration in the process.

Lopez Obrador said the state owns all of Mexico’s oil resources, and has greater control over areas that have not yet been assigned. “The greater majority of our oil potential is still under the control of Pemex,” he added.

 

S&P Globals / Wendy Wells / Daniel Rodríguez / September 11

 

Rangeland Energy Begins Operations at its South Texas Energy Products System (STEPS) Terminal Facility in Corpus Christi, Texas

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Oil and Gas 360 / june 5

 

SUGAR LAND, Texas

Rangeland Energy III, LLC (“Rangeland”) today announced that operations commenced at its STEPS terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Monday, June 4. Rangeland also announced that in June the company will begin loading diesel onto railcars for a leading refined products customer. The diesel will be delivered to third-party inland terminals in Mexico via the Kansas City Southern Railway(NYSE: KSU).

“Rangeland is looking forward to facilitating the transportation of diesel to destinations in Mexico for a major industry player,” said Rangeland President and CEO Christopher W. Keene. “This is the first customer to contract with us for services at the STEPS facility. As we continue to build out the STEPS project, we are working with other key marketers, refiners and producers to provide services into and out of STEPS.”

About STEPS

STEPS is an integrated hydrocarbon logistics system that receives and stores refined products, liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) and other hydrocarbons at a new terminal hub located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and transports them to terminals primarily located in Mexico. During the initial phase of the project, refined products and LPGs will be received in the Corpus Christi terminal then shipped to third-party inland terminals located in Mexico. In subsequent phases, marine facilities in Corpus Christi and Mexico will be added to the system, along with the infrastructure to accommodate additional commodities including crude oil, condensate and fuel oil. The STEPS project expands upon and leverages Rangeland’s successful track record of developing similar infrastructure in the Bakken Shale and Permian Basin.

The terminal site in Corpus Christi is strategically situated along the Kansas City Southern Railroad mainline within five miles of the Port of Corpus Christi and the Valero, CITGO and Flint Hills refineries. Inbound products initially will be delivered by truck or rail, followed later by pipeline and barge. Refined products and LPGs will move out of the STEPS Corpus Terminal primarily by rail, but the terminal could eventually connect to pipelines and vessels.

About Rangeland Energy

Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Rangeland Energy was formed in 2009 to focus on developing, acquiring, owning and operating midstream infrastructure for crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and other petroleum products. The company is focused on emerging hydrocarbon production areas across North America, with a current emphasis on the Gulf Coast and Canada. The Rangeland team represents more than 200 years of combined midstream experience and is backed by an equity commitment from EnCap Flatrock Midstream. Visit www.rangelandenergy.com for more information.

 

Oil and Gas 360 / june 5

 

PROGRAMA INTEGRAL DE SEGUROS: LA CLAVE EN EL SECTOR HIDROCARBUROS

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Contratar un seguro no basta para decir que una empresa está adecuadamente protegida contra los eventuales riesgos que pueda enfrentar; lo anterior, toda vez que un seguro sólo va a cubrir ciertos riesgos y a excluir otros. Por ello, la clave es contar con un programa integral de seguros.

Especificamente en el sector de hidrocarburos y sus derivados, la cadena de valor  es amplia y compleja, abarca distintas actividades: Exploración, Extracción, Refinación y Procesamiento, Transporte, Almacenamiento, Distribución y Expendio al público.

Se trata de actividades que son altamente riesgosas por las características intrínsecas de los hidrocarburos (explosivos  y flamables) las cuales les otorgan el potencial de causar daños y perjuicios. A dichos riesgos, se le suman aquellos que son particulares de cada actividad. Por ejemplo, en las actividades de extracción existe la posibilidad de un descontrol de pozo, lo que puede causar severos daños a personas y medio ambiente; los auto-tanques que transportan gasolina o gas licuado de petróleo pueden ocasionar pérdidas catastróficas en caso de una explosión pues transitan en zonas de alta densidad poblacional; los ductos son sujetos a actos vandálicos para sustraer los hidrocarburos, lo cual puede provocar contaminación a partir de los derrames.

Para evitar este tipo de eventualidades, las empresas generalmente implementan una serie de medidas de seguridad industrial y protección ambiental a través de un proceso de administración de riesgos, sin embargo la posibilidad de que alguna de éstas falle siempre existirá, por eso es sumamente importante contar con los mecanismos de transferencia de riesgos que otorguen respaldo económico en caso de siniestro.

Los seguros son instrumentos de transferencia del riesgo, que están diseñados para cumplir con objetivos específicos. Por ejemplo, un seguro de responsabilidad civil otorga cobertura por los daños y perjuicios que se causen a terceros en sus personas y bienes; un seguro de responsabilidad ambiental sirve para absorber los costos de remediación o compensación por contaminación ambiental; un seguro de control de pozos, como su nombre lo indica, está diseñado para asumir los costos que se deriven de un accidente en un pozo de perforación que provoque su descontrol.

La mejor manera de que las empresas de la industria de hidrocarburos estén debidamente protegidas es a través  de un programa integral de seguros que abarque todas sus áreas de riesgo.

En el contexto actual de la Reforma Energética,en la que participan activamente nuevos operadores que han comprometido su capital, las empresas  deben estar preparadas para actuar en un escenario de riesgo, donde deberán ajustar sus esquemas de aseguramiento a fin de evitar una reducción de la utilidad esperada o incluso un impacto negativo en su patrimonio.

En NRGI Bróker somos expertos  en administración de riesgos y programas integrales de seguros. Acércate a nosotros, con gusto te atenderemos.

 

Mexico’s Billion Dollar Oil Industry Ripe for the Picking

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Baystreet Staff / May 22

 

It may have taken the better part of a century, but Mexico figured out that their state-owned energy monopoly, PEMEX, was a business model that just wasn’t working out. After hammering out legislation in 2013 to denationalize the nation’s oil and gas industry, the worst thing that could happen, did; oil prices collapsed, and companies globally hit the brakes on spending. What was expected to be the opening of floodgates to invest in arguably the biggest energy opportunity today didn’t happen quite as expected. With oil prices climbing to fresh three-and-a-half year highs, all that is changing and the Mexico’s oil space is starting to heat up with investment of $150 billion now secured.

As it happens, investors’ conservative approach worked perfectly in favor of Steve Hanson and his team at International Frontier Resources Corp. (TSX-V: IFR) . “We knew that we were heading to Mexico for the first onshore licensing round to build the cornerstones of our operations,” Hanson said in a phone call with Baystreet.ca. “We were in a strong financial position with a clear mission to become the next energy leader in Mexico. Others staying on the sidelines as oil bottomed in 2016 really worked to our benefit as a first-mover in Mexico’s energy reform.”

The savvy leadership at IFR, formed an equal partnership with a Mexican petrochemical giant, as a result, this Canadian company became the first foreign-owned joint venture (JV) and independent oil company to actively explore onshore opportunities in Mexico in over 80 years. Through its strategic JV, IFR is also the first foreign company to complete the regulatory review and drill onshore conventional oil in Mexico under license contract. You’d think it would have been a major like Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) or Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHGE) or Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), companies that were already working in the area as service providers to PEMEX, but it wasn’t. It was a little $30 million market cap. company that was nimble enough to beat everyone to the punch.

“We weren’t afraid of the price of oil. Not even at the $40 per barrel that oil was fetching at the time; we knew we could still make money based on our expertise and interpretation of the geology,” said Hanson. “At $70 oil, we’re obviously excited with our position, ” he added.

Confident for Good Reason

Hanson’s confidence isn’t unfounded. He has over two decades of well-grounded experience in finance and corporate development, serving as chairman and managing director at the award-winning equity money management firm Van Arbor Asset Management before selling it with a sizable payout to the ZLC Private Investment Management in 2008. Next he was the CEO and president of PanAsian Petroleum that was sold profitably to Ivanhoe Energy, shortly after Hanson took charge. Likewise, that was followed by serving as a director at Lion Petroleum, a company focused on oil and gas in East Africa which was then acquired by Taipan Resources.

IFR’s management team is the embodiment of success and has experience across the finance and energy spectrum throughout the globe, including COO and director Andy Fisher, who has a history of taking companies with negligible assets to robust oil and gas production. For instance, he founded Arcan Resources and grew it from no production to 4,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), before the company was sold to Aspenleaf Energy Ltd., in June 2015 for CDN. $300 million. He was also VP, international contracts and negotiation, at Pacalta Resources Ltd. (“Pacalta”) in Ecuador, where he helped in growing the company from 100 boe/d in production to roughly 45,000 boe/d. In 1999, Alberta Energy Co., the predecessor to EnCana’s (TSX: ECA) (NYSE: ECA), bought Pacalta in a deal worth approximately CDN. $1.0 billion!

For the sake of brevity, the profiles of everyone contributing to IFR’s future can’t be covered; however, it certainly is worth mentioning that Colin Mills, an independent director at IFR, has more than three decades of diverse international experience in power generation, including building two power plants in Mexico, which adds to the local advantage of IFR in terms of navigating the regulatory environment in Mexico.

The commitment and confidence of these individuals to IFR is best recognized based on the fact that insiders hold more than one-third of the company’s outstanding shares.

It’s this experience and dedication at IFR that led to the formation of Tonalli Energia, a 50-50 JV between IFR’s Mexican subsidiary, Petro Frontera S.A.P.I de CV, and Mexican petrochemical giant Grupo IDESA. As a first mover, the partnership and its in-country experience gives Tonalli a serious competitive edge to catapult it forward into becoming the next energy leader in Mexico.

The Tecolutla Project – Now a Producer!

Imagine every bit of oil in Texas was controlled by one company for the last 80 years. That’s a rough analogy for what has been going on in Mexico. It’s explored enough (both on- and offshore) to know that there are tremendous reserves, possibly comparable to the all-resilient Permian Basin, but woefully little with respect to extracting oil and gas. Right now, Mexico ranks as the Western hemisphere’s third largest oil producer and host of the fourth largest known oil reserves.

Those could be conservative positions in the future considering Premier Oil last summer made a major offshore discovery in a block next to Talos Energy and Sierra Oil and Gas that is estimated to hold in excess of one billion barrels of oil that possibly extend into the adjacent block. This was discovered through the first shallow water offshore exploration well drilled since denationalization. Shares of Premier rocketed higher with the find. “Few think of Mexico in the same terms as Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that Mexico has similar quantities of hydrocarbon resources,” argued a recent report published by Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. However, this is about to change with higher oil prices and growing investor interest.

Lending further credence to Mexican oil potential, IHS Markit thinks the country’s untapped Tampico-Misantla Basin on the east coast of Mexico could be one of the world’s next “super basins.” Part of the basin includes the massive Poza Rica oil field, estimated to contain 3.8 billion boe, and IFR’s Tecolutla project which has now commenced completion operations for its recently drilled TEC-10 well.

The Tampico basin is known to have geology similar to the prolific North American basins, with stacked conventional and unconventional pay zones. In fact, IFR recently drilled 138 meters of reef thickness at its directional evaluation, TEC-10 well. It is also known that such basins tend to have “halo” zones of tight oil (light oil that is easily produced) surrounding them, this may be supported by the limited amount of exploration that has so far occurred at Tecolutla.

Seven wells were drilled between 1956-1972, with a well with last recorded production rates in January 2016. IFR announced the completion of a successful workover of a legacy TEC-2 well which was tested for production for a total of seven days and far exceeded management expectations. The well reported an average flow of 125 barrels of oil per day which was more than 13 times higher compared to last recorded production on the well! Newly drilled TEC-10 is next to test for production rates which is the most exciting moment for IFR JV since its inception!

IFR was awarded the block in May 2016 with no cash payment, merely a royalty agreement which offered one of the most favourable terms in comparison to the royalties on other blocks offered during the bid round. Furthermore, Export Development Canada (EDC) backstopped IFR by putting up the company’s portion of the performance bond required by Tonalli, allowing the company to conserve its cash, while lending a great deal of validation to the project. IFR ended the first quarter of 2018 with $2.81 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt.

The first drill rig penetrated the ground in April, reached depth of 2,453 meters total vertical depth and was cased for production testing this month which was a historic moment for the Mexican oil and gas sector. Several points stand out when looking at the disclosed results, namely the fact that visible oil was noticeable from the core and the fact that oil was hit at deeper levels than oil was ever produced in the zone historically, indicating the El Abra reservoir at Tecolutla could have greater volume than ever believed.

Moreover, IFR, via Tonalli, is using modern exploration technology at Tecolutla for the first time. IFR is using the first-ever 3D seismic data shot for the whopping 81-billion-barrel Chicontepec formation with the aim of helping better understand Tecolutla field.

The beauty of the rock, according to Hanson, is not just that it is apparently flush with oil, but naturally fractured as well, making horizontal drilling easy, without the need for fracturing that draw the ire of environmentalists. These characteristics mean that the drilling is low cost, to the extent that Hanson believes the company can produce profitably at a cost of less than $20-$25 per barrel.

The Upcoming Catalysts

IFR is presently working on production testing, continuing analysis of the wireline, image logs and core analysis, refining the 3D seismic model and identifying the next drill target. The JV is looking ahead to the second tender of Round Three of bidding for projects (scheduled for September 27, 2018). Given the surge in value that Premier Oil experienced with its find, any positive data regarding the initial drill hole underpinned by historic production, should energize IFR shares and likely drive the attention of the investment community.

“We started IFR and moved aggressively in Mexico with the purpose of building a billion-dollar company,” Hanson added during the call. He continued, “We are very proud of being a first-mover in what we believe is going to quickly emerge as one of the most vibrant energy markets in the world and we’re not going to relent in our efforts to build value just as we have with previous companies.”

It’s difficult to disagree with anything Hanson says. They have nailed all of their milestones so far and certainly have plenty of running room to add to their portfolio. They have an outstanding partner in Grupo IDESA, the backing of EDC, are fully-funded for the existing work program, all the necessary infrastructure is in place, and they have outstanding experience across the entire supply chain that should allow IFR to sell oil at a price that couldn’t be realized anywhere else in the Western hemisphere.

Now, if they just start to prove the oil and the economic viability of the resource as they believe, IFR should be off to the races as the company looks to notch the next major success in their already impressive accomplishments.

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Baystreet Staff / May 22

 

Expert questions BP’s drilling plans for offshore Nova Scotia

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The Canadian Press / The Chronicle Herald / May 15

 

An engineering expert and former oil industry consultant has raised the alarm on BP Canada Energy Group’s plans to drill off Nova Scotia.

“Given BP’s current proposals for exploratory drilling offshore Nova Scotia, the likelihood of an uncontrolled blowout exceeds the upper limits for tolerability of exploratory well drilling risks,” said Robert Bea in his risk analysis of BP’s plans.

Bea, who is professor emeritus at the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California at Berkeley, has investigated catastrophes including the Columbia space shuttle explosion in 1987 and the blowout of a Deepwater Horizon rig owned by BP eight years ago.

“Based on the information provided by BP, the blowout risk is clearly not acceptable,” Bea said in an interview Monday.

Bea uses a complex risk assessment system that looks into factors such as the commitment of everyone involved in an operation to safety, from contractors to the company’s top managers. The company’s awareness of major risks and its technical and management ability to assess risk is also taken into account.

After applying these criteria to BP’s plans for offshore Nova Scotia, Bea said the risk of an uncontrolled blowout like Deepwater Horizon was high. Eleven rig workers were killed in the Deepwater explosion on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico and it triggered the biggest oil spill in U.S. history at an estimated 4.9 million barrels.

In a decision in early April, the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board authorized BP Canada to do preparatory work in advance of its plan to drill an exploration well about 50 kilometres off Sable Island. The decision drew protests from groups, including the Council of Canadians, about the environmental risks associated with the project and the strength of the regulations that govern the offshore.

BP contends that if there was a blowout off Nova Scotia, there would be sufficient time to drill a relief well and to get access to equipment such as a capping stack to contain the situation. But Bea said he questions that optimism, based on the documentation he’s seen and his personal experience in assessing gas and oil projects.

The provincial and federal governments have denied that the project, which could see up to seven exploration wells drilled off the southeast coast of Nova Scotia over a three-year period, poses unacceptable environmental risks.

Premier Stephen McNeil has said he’s confident that BP would take the appropriate measures to ensure safety and environmental responsibility throughout the project. He said BP has taken strides to strengthen regulations since Deepwater.

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has said the project “is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.”

Bea agrees there would be economic benefits for Nova Scotia but only if the project is done successfully.

“I don’t think it’s a case of we should do this at all,” he said. “I think it’s a case of if we choose to do this, we need to do it with the best available technology. Because the consequences of being wrong are too high.”

 

The Canadian Press / The Chronicle Herald / May 15

 

Qatar Petroleum to push ahead with expansion despite Gulf crisis

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From: REUTERS NEWS AGENCY / 8 Mayo

 

State energy giant continue with expansion strategy to be on par with oil majors, despite Gulf crisis embargo.

State energy giant Qatar Petroleum (QP) will push ahead with its production expansion and foreign asset acquisition strategy to be on par with oil majors, despite a regional political and economic embargo on Doha, its chief executive said.

Qatar is one of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ smallest producers but is also one of the most influential players in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market due to its annual production of 77 million tonnes.

“We are in Mexico, we are in Brazil, we are contemplating investing in the US in many areas, in shale gas, in conventional oil. We are looking at many things,” al-Kaabi said in an interview at QP’s headquarters in Doha.

“We are looking very critically at the United States because we have a position there. We have the Golden Pass that we are investing in,” he said.

Qatar Petroleum is the majority owner of the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas, with ExxonMobil Corp and ConocoPhillips holding smaller stakes.

Al-Kaabi said “depending on the project’s cost and feasibility” he expects to take a final investment decision on expanding the Golden Pass LNG by the end of the year.

“I’m not in the business of infrastructure. I’m not going to have a liquefaction plant only. It has to be something that will be linked with an upstream business that we would buy in the US so we need to be naturally hedged,” he added.

To maintain its dominance in the US and Australia, QP is cutting costs at home and seeking to expand overseas through joint ventures with international companies.

“We will always go with one of our international partners that we have business with here in Qatar,” al-Kaabi said. “Some of our partners want to divest, some of our partners want to acquire something together.”

QP is focusing on other opportunities in Mexico, Latin America, Africa and in the Mediterranean, he said. QP is also looking to enter Mozambique, where Exxon and Eni operate, he added.

Al-Kaabi said the share of overseas upstream production will be “a good portion” in the long term, but it will not compare with its share at home.

“Our strategy says we are going to expand in upstream business with a little bit of downstream that will be connected to some other businesses that we are doing and a few one-off deals in petrochemicals,” he said.

 

We are in Mexico, we are in Brazil, we are contemplating investing in the US in many areas

                                                                        SAAD AL-KAABI

 

From: REUTERS NEWS AGENCY / 8 Mayo

 

Los beneficios sociales de la Reforma Energética

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Cuando se promulgó la Reforma Energética a finales del año 2014, fueron diversos los beneficios sociales anunciados por el Gobierno Federal, entre los que se encontraban: 1) la creación de empleos; 2); el aumento de recursos públicos que serían utilizados para la construcción de escuelas, hospitales y el mejoramiento de servicios públicos en general, y 3) el aprovechamiento sustentable de los recursos naturales.

A poco más de tres años de la puesta en marcha de la Reforma Energética, es importante preguntarse si estos beneficios se han cumplido o tienen posibilidades de hacerse realidad, lo anterior, teniendo como base la idea de que estamos hablando de un proyecto de largo plazo, cuyas bondades requieren de tiempo para madurar. No obstante, podemos mencionar algunos datos que ya es posible vislumbrar.

Actualmente, más de 70 empresas nacionales e internacionales se encuentran realizando actividades para la exploración y extracción (E&E) de hidrocarburos en México, a través de los más de 100 contratos que ya se han adjudicado en los procesos de licitación organizados por la Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH), y que se traducen en inversiones comprometidas de más de 200 mil millones de dólares.

Todas estas empresas requieren de una variedad de servicios y personal capacitado para llevar a cabo sus operaciones en nuestro país, lo que trae consigo la creación y/o reactivación económica de empresas mexicanas, así como empleo para diversos profesionistas en lo individual; esto además, facilita a los contratistas cumplir con sus obligaciones de contenido nacional. De acuerdo a estimaciones de la Secretaría de Energía, se espera la creación de 230 mil a 900 mil empleos durante los próximos 15 años[1].

En cuanto a mayores recursos públicos para el Estado, los contratos de E&E, prevén diversas contraprestaciones a su favor, entre las que se encuentran regalías, bonos y pago de impuestos; además, México obtiene, en promedio, el 70% de utilidad de los mencionados contratos[2]. Hoy en día ya es posible hablar de importantes éxitos como el pozo Zama, perforado por la empresa Sierra Oil & Gas, de capital mexicano, el cual es definido como uno de los más grandes descubrimientos de los últimos 20 años; o el campo de la empresa italiana Eni, que ha resultado ser más productivo de lo que inicialmente se pronosticó. Dichos éxitos se verán reflejados también en las finanzas públicas.

Por último, en cuanto al objetivo de aprovechar sustentablemente los recursos naturales, la Agencia de Seguridad, Energía y Ambiente (ASEA) ha puesto especial atención en regular los aspectos relacionados con la seguridad industrial y protección ambiental, a fin de procurar que las actividades de la industria de los hidrocarburos no causen daños a terceros, en sus bienes y personas, instalaciones y medio ambiente.

Una de las medidas tomadas al respecto consiste en la obligación que tienen los operadores del sector hidrocarburos de contratar seguros de responsabilidad civil- ambiental y control de pozos, una efectiva garantía financiera, cuyo propósito es asegurar que contarán con los recursos necesarios para reparar los daños que causen en el desarrollo de sus actividades.

En NRGI Broker hemos participado activamente en la Reforma Energética y conocemos su regulación. Para contratar seguros, acércate a nosotros, somos los expertos y con gusto te atenderemos.

[1] https://www.animalpolitico.com/2018/02/900-mil-empleos-pemex/

[2] https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/empresas/Enfatizan-beneficios-de-reforma-energetica-20171206-0020.html

Pemex lays out the map for the road ahead

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Mexico’s state oil company Pemex has laid out the broad strokes of a new strategy that could dramatically expand its use of partnerships in the Mexican exploration and production sector over the next five years.

The plans open up the possibility of more than 160 new opportunities for private companies over the next two years.

Pemex has already announced plans for the farm-down this year of an interest in the deep-water Trion discovery, and said 2017 would also bring other farm-outs in the shallow-water area of Ayin-Batsil and the onshore areas of Ogarrio and Cardenas-Mora. The company’s latest 2016-2021 business plan also labels 2017 as its target date for partnerships in the extra-heavy oil field of Ayatsil-Tekel-Utsil and the tricky but promising region of Chicontepec, as well as seven more unspecified onshore areas in the northern and southern parts of the country.

The strategy also sets out ambitious plans for 2018, with six deals proposed for shallow waters in the northern part of the country, 64 onshore agreements in the north and south and 86 natural gas contracts in the Burgos and Veracruz areas.

“Pemex’s business plan is a good roadmap, but short and medium-term challenges remain,” political risk consultancy Eurasia Group wrote in a note. “Operational challenges will remain substantial and many of the projects are likely to face delays.”

Pemex only recently gained the ability to take on operating partners in its projects as part of reforms passed in 2014 to end its nearly 80-year monopoly.

The state-led company has touted its new ability as being crucial to helping make up for its declining production curve and bringing in new technology and best practices.

A small number of farm-outs were announced with the passage of implementing legislation in 2014, but details since then have been scant other than Trion. Industry executives have called for more opportunities.

When it comes to exploration rights, by law Pemex must sign contracts for stakes in its projects via an open public bid round run by Mexican oil regulators, not just by direct negotiations.

Pemex did not provide many details on the projects mentioned, merely offering a list of “business opportunities” as part of its roadmap forward.

The strategy was unveiled as Pemex comes under pressure to show progress and activity on areas assigned in the process known as Round Zero.

That process divvied up what fields the Mexican player could retain following reforms but, without activity, acreage reverts back to regulators.

“The plan is very ambitious but I think it’s rightly so,” said Francisco Monaldi, adjunct professor of political economy of oil at Rice University in Houston, suggesting executives aim to position Pemex to take full advantage of the abilities offered by the energy reform.

Chiefly, Pemex will need to find a “winning formula” that can incentivise new operators to come in, and the process for the deep-water Trion block may end up being a model for that going forward, according to Luis Miguel Labardini, partner at Marcos y Asociados in Mexico City.

Ongoing discussions surrounding that joint operating agreement, with lots of feedback from international oil companies, led to the jettisoning of provisions that could have limited the autonomy of new partners, such as the ability of Pemex to unilaterally remove the new operator despite holding a minority stake in the project.

Some of the areas mentioned, notably the Ayatsil-Tekel-Utsil extra-heavy oil field and the Chicontepec region, also have higher production costs that could make economics difficult if lower oil prices persist.

Experts also acknowledged future political risk. The term of energy reform proponent President Enrique Pena Nieto is up in 2018, and the administration at present stands in a weak position due to multiple corruption scandals and its inability to stem violence from drug cartels.

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