July oil output drops at Mexico’s Cantarell field

Crude oil output dropped in July at Mexico’s aging Cantarell offshore field, according to data published on the energy ministry’s Web site on Monday. Cantarell, closely watched by the oil industry after sharp dips in output in recent months, produced an average of 1.526 million barrels per day versus 1.570 million bpd in June.

The figure meant Cantarell accounted for just 48.2 per cent of Mexico’s overall crude oil output last month, continuing a steady decline over the past year at the field, which once produced around 60 per cent of the country’s oil.
Analysts worry that state oil monopoly Pemex will struggle to ramp up yields at younger oil fields like Ku Maloob Zaap and Chicontepec fast enough to make up for Cantarell’s decline.

Pemex is drilling horizontal wells that twist around to reach into narrow oil seams as Cantarell grows drier. It forecasts the field will produce an average of 1.526 million bpd over 2007, down 15 per cent from the 2006 level.

Economic Times