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OilfieldTechnology
February
2014
February2014
Worldnews
PresidentEnriquePenaNieto topush for further reforms
in theMexicanoilandgas industry
Mexico’sPresident, EnriquePenaNieto is set tocontinueworking towardsopeningup the
nation’soil andgas industry toprivate investment. After the recent reformsallowing, for
the first time in75years, private investment in theoil andgas industry, PresidentNieto
said, “During the firstdaysof February, Iwill send toCongress [...] secondary laws regarding
telecommunications, economiccompetitionandenergy.”
Although it isno longer illegal forprivatecompanies toparticipate in theoil andgas
industry inMexico, areas suchas fiscal termsneed tobe finalised. Potential investorswill
be lookingcloselyat theproposed legislation inorder to judge thecommercial viabilityof
futurecontracts. The reformshavebeenheraldedbycredit ratingagency, Standard&Poor’s
as “awatershedmoment”,withoneanalyst stating that “It’shard to ignore sucha significant
change that canmakeameaningful change for thegrowthoutlook.”Pemexhas struggled to
maintainoutput in recent years through reduced investment, high taxationandallegationsof
corruption.
Despite this, thereare stillmany inMexicowhoobject to the state’sdisruptionof Pemex’s
monopoly. Some65000people recentlygathered inMexicoCity topeacefullyprotest against
theconstitutional reforms that areopeningupPemex tooutside investment. Theorganiser
of theprotest, and the founderof theoppositionPartyofDemocraticRevolution (PRD),
CuauhtemocCardenas claimed that foreign investors “will be interested inextracting the
largest amount of petroleumpossible in the shortest amount of time.”Cadenas’ fatherwas
President in1938andoversaw theexpulsionof privateoil companies. ThePRDhopes tohold
a referendumon the reforms in2015.
ExxonMobilproduction
declinesamidUSboom
TheUSenergygiant and theworld’s
largest oil company (bymarket
capitalisation) ExxonMobil has recordeda
thirdyearof decliningproductiondespite
theongoingproductionboom in theUSoil
andgas industry.
Thecompany’soverall output
fell by1.5%comparedwith figures
from theprevious year. Thecompany
isnowproducingapproximately
4.22millionboepd, showingadropof 15%
overall since2010. Alongwithdeclining
production, thecompany suffereda13%
drop inearnings forQ4, 2013.
Oil andgasgiants suchasExxonMobil
are facingconstantpressure to replace
their conventional reserves,manyofwhich
are located inmature fields. Asnew fields
becomeharder to findand significantly
moreexpensive todevelop, increasing
demand sees the reservesofmature
fields shrinkever faster. Coming relatively
late to the shale revolutionhas served to
exacerbate this cycle.
OMVconfirmsguidance in
Libyaoutput report
OMVhas confirmed its2014production
guidance,which showedadrop inoverall
hydrocarbonoutput asa result of security
issues includingcivil unrestportblockades
Libya.
Overall production for thecompany
was277000bpd, down8%on theprevious
year’s figure.However, thiswas largely
compensated for through the recent
acquisitionof theNorwegianNorthSea
Gullfaksasset.
Production inLibya restarted in
January2014, putting thecompanyon
track tomaintain itsproductionguidance
of 320000 - 340000boepd for theyear.
Thecompanyhasalso seenproduction
resume inPakistanandNewZealand.
OMV is changing the focusof its
business from refiningandmarketing to
explorationandproduction. It stated that
explorationcostshad risenasa result of
write-offs inNorwayandKurdistanand the
purchaseof seismicdataoff theNorwegian
continental shelf.
CGG&Spectrum in
o shoreBrazil seismic
acquisition
CGGandSpectrumhaveannounced that
theacquisitionof thehigh-endBroadSeis
™
3Dmulti-client surveyprogrammeoffshore
Brazil in theFozdoAmazonasBasinhas
commenced inearlyJanuaryasplanned.
The11330km survey isbeingacquired
by the
OceanicEndeavour
, deploying
Sercel’snew-generationSentinelRDsolid
streamer. Thehigh-endBroadSeisdataset
willbeprocessed inCGG’sRiodeJaneiro
subsurface imagingcentre.
JDRwinsumbilical
contract fromConoco
JDRCableSystemsLtd., hasbeen
awardedacontract for theproduction
of subseaproductionumbilicals from
ConocoPhillips. Theelectro-hydraulic
umbilicalsare tobedeployed inPhase3of
theBayu-UdanFieldDevelopment in the
JointPetroleumDevelopment Areaof the
Timor Sea.
Theumbilicals,whichwill come toa total
lengthof29km,willbeused forcontroland
chemicaldistribution to twonewsubsea
productionwells.JDR isalso toprovide the
subseadistributionunitat thebaseof the
dynamic riserumbilical,whichwill connect
the two infieldumbilicals.
AndrewNorman, CEOof JDR
commentedon theaward, “This contract
demonstratesJDR’sgrowingcapability in
subseaproductionumbilical designand
manufacture.”This is thecompany’s second
contractwithConocoPhillips.
Survey revealschanging
Asianemployment trends
RigzoneandBP’s recentlypublished
‘Global DiversityReport’ found that female
representation in theAsianoil andgas
industrywason the rise.
Nearly threequartersof those
questioned stated that,whilstwomenonly
madeupapproximately5%of theoil and
gasworkforce inAsia, genderdiversityhad
improved in recent years.
