01-08-08 Mexican state oil company Pemex expects output to fall to 1 mm bpd at its Cantarell field by the end of 2008, Vinicio Suro, deputy director of planning and evaluation at Pemex's E&P subsidiary (PEP), told.
Cantarell production averaged 1.28 mm bpd in December 2007. Output fell to 1.15 mm bpd in 1H08, down by 457,000 bpd from the same six-month period of 2007 due to the field's natural decline.

Pemex has been carrying out various operations to minimize the fall in production, including pressure maintenance works. The field's decline is "more or less" in accordance with Pemex's expectations, Suro said, adding the company is exploring strategies to maximize the recovery factor.
"In the following 12 months, we are going to release a document with a new strategy of exploitation at Cantarell," Suro said.

Cantarell will remain a key part of Pemex's strategy, although its importance will diminish over time as other fields continue producing and "new fields appear, which we are going to produce."
Overall, Pemex this year aims to produce 2.8 mm-2.85 mm bpd, according to Suro. By comparison, production was 3.08 mm bpd in 2007. PEP's CEO Carlos Morales Gil told in March Pemex aimed to produce an average 3 mm-3.1 mm bpd in 2008, an estimate Pemex has since lowered several times.