DEVELOPMENT OF THE PIMIENTA SHALE FORMATION –THE KEY TO THE GROWTH OF DAILY OIL PRODUCTION IN MEXICO

Since 2005, Mexico has seen a steady decline of daily oil production. Recent offshore oil production projects of the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico had a limited impact on the production decline, which decreased from 3.4 to 1.7 MMbpd. The launch of new offshore fields such as Zama will increase production by no more than 0.1 MMbpd and generally will not change the downward trend of production in Mexico. The solution to this problem is possible through the start of development of the Pimienta shale formation in the Tampico-Misantla and Veracruz oil and gas basins, which will increase daily oil production in Mexico by 0.5-1.5 MMbpd starting in 2030. The potential of the Pimienta formation in the these basins is estimated at 280-560 BBBl of oil, and with an extraction rate of 4-7%, accumulated production may reach 15-45 BBBl. When developing the productive intervals of the Pimienta formation, it is proposed to use the method of cyclic shale development with repeated fracturing, which will extend the life of wells, and, consequently, maintain production at a high level without drilling new production wells.