Pemex‘s exploration and production segment operates through the state-owned productive subsidiary Pemex Exploración y Producción and explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.

Pemex carries out these activities primarily in the northeast and southeast regions of Mexico and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.

In nominal peso terms, its investments in exploration and production activities increased 20.4% in 2022.

Exploration and production

As a result of these investments, Pemex’s total hydrocarbon production reached a level of approximately 926.1 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2022.

In addition, Pemex’s crude oil production increased 1. 6% from 2021 to 2022, reaching an average of 1 million 764,200 barrels per day in 2022, mainly as a result of the development of its offshore fields Esah, Itta, Koban, Mulach, Pokche, Teak, Teekit Profundo, Uchbal, Xanab, Yaxche and the Quesqui, Tupilco Deep, Cibix, Teotleco and Ixachi onshore field projects and the repairs, upgrades and diversification of the artificial systems in its other onshore fields that helped maintain production levels.

Outlook

Looking ahead to 2023, Pemex’s production targets include producing crude oil at a level of approximately 1,930,200 barrels per day and maintaining natural gas production above 4,940.7 million cubic feet per day.

The company intends to achieve these production targets through exploration and development activities, increasing inventory reserves through new discoveries and reclassifications, and managing declining reservoir production by focusing its exploration and production activities in areas where it has greater experience and higher historical success rates, such as secondary and tertiary recovery systems.

In addition, Pemex intends to reallocate resources from deepwater projects, which tend to be expensive and long-term activities, to shallow-water and onshore projects, which can yield short-term results.

The company plans to continue developing 35 fields in 2023; 21 of which, are shallow water fields it began developing in 2019-2021; three shallow water fields it began developing in 2022; four onshore fields have been in development since 2019; two onshore fields it began developing in 2021; and five onshore fields we added to its master plan for 2023.

Pemex expects these 35 fields to be able to produce a total of up to 594,000 barrels of crude oil per day during 2023.