MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s national oil company hopes to harness international partnerships and reverse its declining oil production by the end of the year, its leader said in Houston on Tuesday.
Production for Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, has fallen off in recent years as it struggled to replace oil flowing from its declining wells.
It cut its budget 11 percent to $4 billion after oil prices began collapsing last year, and those cuts will delay projects and further imperil the 2.3 million barrels of daily crude oil production the company has averaged so far in 2015.
But CEO Emilio Lozoya told an audience at the IHS Energy CERAWeek conference that he expects production to rise again by 2016 thanks to an infusion of talent and capital from private companies under the ongoing overhaul that is opening Mexico’s decades-old nationalized energy sector to private investment.
Lozoya also has been working to transform Pemex from a 150,000-employee national oil monopoly into a more nimble company capable of working with and competing against private companies from across the world.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and Richard Clayton, chief maritime analyst, IHS. Land’s icy winds could help power Europe Scott Sheffield, who heads Irving-based Pioneer Natural Resources, says the company is hiring engineers and geologists and retaining other workers during the downturn. (Billy Smith II / Houston Chronicle) Oil leaders vow resilience, creativity to weather slump Steve Bolze, chief executive officer of GE Power & Water, left, speaks with Muhammad Al-Saggaf, acting head of shared operations and services for Saudi Aramco, at the 2015 IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Monday, April 20, 2015. CERAWeek 2015, in its 34th year, will provide new insights and critically-important dialogue with decision-makers in the oil and gas, electric power, coal, renewables, and nuclear sectors from around the world. Photographer: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Steve Bolze; Muhammad Al-Saggaf Panelists warn against cutting research during slump Delegates to IHS Energy CERAWEEK arrive for the opening panel discussion on Monday, April 20, 2015, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle ) Researcher sees rising U.S. role in the world of oil
Pemex is preparing to partner with private companies in the Gulf of Mexico and expects the first bump in production quickly.
“We will turn that around definitely this year,” Lozoya said.
Pemex plans to spin off some of its units into separate companies, including pipeline and chemical ventures.
In another CERAWeek session Tuesday, a Mexican energy official said dozens of companies have signed up to bid on the first auctions for Mexico’s natural resources despite the crude price slump that has imperiled drilling plans across the industry.
Maria de Lourdes Melgar Palacios, deputy secretary for hydrocarbons at Mexico’s Ministry of Energy, said the first round of bidding continues and has received international interest, with 34 companies bidding for joint-venture exploration opportunities with Pemex in the shallow-water Gulf of Mexico.
The approved companies include major oil and gas companies already active in the Gulf, Melgar said, as well as some newcomers.
The final bidding for the first round of contracts will take place on July 15, and more details on the specific terms of the contracts will be available a month and a half before that.
Auctions for onshore unconventional drilling and deep-water acreage will follow later in 2015.
