Pemex, the Mexican state oil company, has set its sights on increasing hydrocarbon reserves and ensuring their restitution under the administration of newly elected President Claudia Sheinbaum, reported Reuters, citing an internal Pemex document.
The company intends to intensify deep-water exploration and develop new business models to attract investment.
This marks a shift from the approach of former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who did not look to form partnerships with private companies for exploration and extraction projects.
Pemex will continue to focus on onshore exploration, shallow waters and areas around current production fields.
Additionally, Pemex will prioritise projects with high success and profitability potential to mitigate the decline of oilfields and boost new developments.
Pemex maintains a partnership with Australian energy company Woodside Energy from 2017 for the Trion field in the ultra-deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Woodside operates the project with a 60% stake, while Pemex holds a 40% share as a financial partner.
The Trion project, with reserves of 287 million barrels (mbbl) of crude oil and 323 billion cubic feet of gas, is set to begin production in 2028.
During the previous administration led by Lopez Obrador, Pemex prioritised projects with quick production turnaround, sidelining deep-water exploration. However, many of these projects have begun to decline earlier than expected.
Lopez Obrador halted the bidding for contracts established during the energy reforms a decade ago, contending that resource wealth was being transferred to private and foreign companies to the detriment of Pemex.
Despite being one of the most indebted oil companies globally, Pemex currently produces 1.5mbbl of crude oil per day, or 1.8 million when including condensate.
Sheinbaum said she would aim to maintain these production levels over her six-year term.
According to a recent Reuters report, Pemex intends to save up to $1.35bn (26.83bn pesos) by scaling back exploration and production efforts.
