Mexico's Sureste Basin

摘要

The resurgence of the Permian Basin in the United States led directly to the concept of the "super basin": a mature basin that can be rejuvenated to produce as much or more oil and gas than it has so far. Another archetype for super basins lies 1,000 miles southeast of the Permian, in the onshore/offshore Sureste Basin of Mexico. This is the home of the supergiant Cantarell oil field, discovered in 1976, which hit peak production of 2.1 million barrels a day in 2003. Since then, Cantarell's output has steadily declined. It's also the basin where operator Talos Energy recently reported a major crude oil discovery. In July, the company said its Zama-1 well found an accumulation of up to 2 billion barrels of oil after drilling to about 11,100 feet offshore in 546 feet of water, marking what it called "the first offshore exploration well drilled by the private sector in Mexico's history." Talos Energy holds a 35-percent interest in the well, Sierra Oil and Gas 40 percent and Premier Oil 25 percent. At this point, super basin-status for Sureste looks like a legitimate call, said Mark Shann, subsurface director for Sierra Oil and Gas in Mexico City.