Pemex announced on Friday that it has discovered a huge oil deposit in Tabasco that could yield 500 million barrels of crude.
State oil company CEO Octavio Romero said Pemex could confirm the existence of a “giant deposit” at the Quesqui field, located in Huimanguillo.
“With the analysis of information provided by this well and seismic data in the area, we can confirm today the existence of a giant deposit equivalent to 500 million barrels of crude oil in a 3P reserve,” he said. A 3P reserve is made up of deposits that are proven, probable and possible.
Speaking at the Quesqui field alongside President López Obrador, Romero said that the discovery was the largest since 1987 when a 536-million-barrel deposit was found in Tabasco.
He also said another well is being drilled at Quesqui that could contain an additional 200 million barrels of crude.
The Pemex chief said Pemex is aiming to extract 69,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and up to 300 million cubic feet of gas from the site in 2020. Romero predicted that yields will increase to 110,000 bpd of crude and 410 million cubic feet of gas in 2021.
The large oil find is welcome news for the government, which has pledged to revive the heavily indebted state oil company.
López Obrador said on Friday that Pemex, which has seen its oil output decline for more than a decade, was in “a very bad state” when his government took office but claimed that it is now “bouncing back because there is no corruption and it is being managed very well.”
