MEXICO CITY, March 11 - Mexico's state oil company Pemex said on Wednesday it awarded a $687 million oil well drilling contract to a consortium led by oil services giant Schlumberger.
The Schlumberger-led group is to begin drilling 500 wells in the Chicontepec field in April. The contract runs through June 2012.
The contract is the latest major drilling deal awarded by Pemex at Chicontepec, a huge area of challenging geology Mexico hopes to transform into a major oil producer.
Schlumberger and Weatherford International have already won drilling contracts at Chicontepec. Pemex is expected to award another 500-well contract within the coming weeks.
Weatherford, Baker Hughes and Haliburton all bid on this contract.
Pemex plans to drill 1,000 wells a year at Chicontepec as it tries to tap some of the billions of barrels of oil that are trapped in tricky rock formations that make oil production difficult and costly.
The company hopes to boost output from the area to 600,000 barrels per day of oil from about 30,000 bpd at the end of 2008, but analysts have questioned whether the technology exists to economically develop Chicontepec.
Pemex believes the technology can be found to boost output at Chicontepec and the company plans to spend more than $2.3 billion this year developing the area.
The Schlumberger-led group is to begin drilling 500 wells in the Chicontepec field in April. The contract runs through June 2012.
The contract is the latest major drilling deal awarded by Pemex at Chicontepec, a huge area of challenging geology Mexico hopes to transform into a major oil producer.
Schlumberger and Weatherford International have already won drilling contracts at Chicontepec. Pemex is expected to award another 500-well contract within the coming weeks.
Weatherford, Baker Hughes and Haliburton all bid on this contract.
Pemex plans to drill 1,000 wells a year at Chicontepec as it tries to tap some of the billions of barrels of oil that are trapped in tricky rock formations that make oil production difficult and costly.
The company hopes to boost output from the area to 600,000 barrels per day of oil from about 30,000 bpd at the end of 2008, but analysts have questioned whether the technology exists to economically develop Chicontepec.
Pemex believes the technology can be found to boost output at Chicontepec and the company plans to spend more than $2.3 billion this year developing the area.
