Pemex Official: Chicontepec to Produce 40,000 B/D by Year-End

HOUSTON (Dow Jones), Dec. 9, 2009

Mexican state-run oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, expects production at the onshore Chicontepec basin to increase to 40,000 barrels of oil a day by the end of the year, a senior official at the company said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in the sidelines of a conference in Houston, Jesus Puente, adviser to the general director of Pemex, also said the company is still evaluating how the recent credit downgrade of Mexico by a leading credit rating agency will affect its financing plans.

He said, however, that the company isn't contemplating increasing its issuance in the local debt market. In a presentation, Puente confirmed that Pemex expects to have a capital expenditure budget of $19. 1 billion next year and produce about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day.

The Chincontepec basin has produced on average just 30,000 barrels of crude a day this year, far below expectations.

The official said Pemex plans to drill about 20,000 wells in the Chicontepec area between 2010 and 2027.  

Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.


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