Pemex says Ixachi find may hold a billion boe
Onshore discovery in state of Veracruz expected to produce 80,000 bpd of condensate and 700 MMcfd of gas
Pemex's Ixachi gas and condensate discovery in Veracruz state could house resources of more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which could make it Mexico's most important onshore find of the past 25 years.
Executives with the Mexican state oil company touted new expectations for Ixachi during a presentation this week, fresh from completing two appraisal wells.
Previously the company sized up the discovery as representing total possible reserves of about 350 million boe.
The company now sees Ixachi as having the ability to produce 80,000 barrels per day of condensate and more than 700 million cubic feet per day of gas, helping to meet the country's demand for gas and liquid hydrocarbons. Peak production is forecast in 2022.
Pemex officials highlighted the find's proximity to existing infrastructure, which has allowed for early production.
Company officials said the initial Ixachi discovery well has already been placed online and is producing about 2000 barrels per day of condensate.
The next step will be to tie in the appraisal wells, executives said. The company envisages an initial full-field development plan of 40 development wells with a budget of 30.5 billion pesos ($1.48 billion).
"The quantity of gas and liquid hydrocarbons identified in this field will assure the viability of supply of these products, in the short and medium term, for the petrochemical complexes in the southeast region of the country," Pemex said.
The two probes of Ixachi-1DEL, southeast of the original discovery, and Ixachi 1001, to the northeast, aimed to prove up extensions of the field. The appraisal results indicated that the area of the accumulation spans about 50 square kilometres, with an oil column of more than 1000 metres.
The objectives targeted Cretaceous limestones on the eastern edge of the Cordoba platform.
The discovery comes as the latest chapter for the long-prolific hydrocarbons province of Veracruz, which has been exploited since the late 1940s with trends like Golden Lane.
The field lies in the Terra Blanca municipality some 72 kilometres from the Port of Veracruz.
