The Area 1 project will include the development of three oil fields, namely Amoca, Miztón and Tecoalli, located approximately 10km offshore from the Tabasco coast in the Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico.
Located at a water depth of 32m, the Area 1 block is owned by a consortium of Eni Mexico (Eni) and Qatar Petroleum. Eni Mexico is also the operator of the project.
Recommended White Papers
Recommended Buyers Guides
Eni received a 100% participating interest in Area 1 in a competitive bid round in September 2015 and signed a production sharing contract in December 2015.
The project was approved by the National Hydrocarbon Commission of Mexico (Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos) in August 2018.
Eni sold a 35% participating interest in Area 1 to Qatar Petroleum in December 2018. In the same month, Eni took the final investment decision (FID) for the Area 1 development with an estimated capital expenditure of $2bn.
Early production from the Area 1 Miztón field began in June 2019. Full field development is expected to be completed by 2024.
Reserves
Located in the shallow waters of the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico, Area 1 covers an area of 67km² and includes three fields. It is estimated to hold 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, of which 90% is oil and the remaining is associated gas.
Area 1 appraisal details
In March 2017, Amoca-2 was the first well in Area 1 to confirm the presence of high-quality light oil in multiple reservoirs. The well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 3,500m, in 25m of water, about 200km west of Ciudad del Carmen in Campeche Bay. The well intercepted approximately 110m of net oil pay in reservoir sandstones of the Pliocene era.
Amoca-3, drilled 3km north-west of Amoca-2 in July 2017, confirmed the presence of several significant oil levels in the Orca and Cinco Presidentes formations.
The drilling of the additional Mizton-2 and Tecoalli-2 appraisal wells the same year estimated the total hydrocarbons in Area 1 to be 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Area 1 development details
Area 1 is being developed in a phased manner. Early production from the Miztón field started through a wellhead platform. MODEC’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) Miamte MV34 arrived in Mexico for full field production from Area 1 in January 2022. The FPSO started hydrocarbon production from the Miztón field in February 2022. First cargo from the field was exported in April 2022.
The full development of Area 1 will include 33 wells, connected to three wellhead platforms, plus a monopod and the Miamte MV34 FPSO. Two wellhead platforms are currently in operation on the Miztón and Amoca fields, while another platform on the Amoca field and the monopod on the Tecoalli field are still being developed.
The produced hydrocarbons will be transported onshore using a 10in-diameter multi-phase line and further processed at an existing Pemex facility.
FPSO details
The Miamte FPSO is moored with a state-of-the-art disconnectable tower yoke mooring system (DTYMS) in Area 1.
The FPSO is capable of processing 90,000 barrels of crude oil per day, 75 million cubic feet of gas per day and 120,000 barrels of water injection per day. It can also store 900,000 barrels of crude oil.
Contractors involved
MODEC was contracted to supply, charter and operate the FPSO in Area 1. The charter period for the company is 15 years, with five one-year extension options. MODEC group company Sofec was subcontracted for the design, construction and fabrication of the DTYMS for the FPSO.
