Schlumberger, Weatherford Defend Mexico Turf With Low Bids
03 3월 2009 - 4:23AM
Dow Jones News
Oil field service companies Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT)
and Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) are defending their market share in
Mexico by submitting the most competitive bids for two recent
drilling contracts, according to people familiar with the
situation.
Mexico is one of the few oil countries that plans to boost
spending on oil exploration and production this year despite the
oil price crash, in an effort to shore up declining production.
Both drilling contracts are for the Chicontepec area in northern
Mexico, where Schlumberger has been drilling since mid-2007 and
Weatherford since mid-2008. This means they have already learned
the ropes in an area industry experts describe as one of the most
difficult oil projects on land worldwide.
One industry executive who participated in the drilling tender
said Schlumberger submitted the lowest bid, $689 million, for the
first 500-well contract. The highest bid came from Baker Hughes
Inc. (BHI) at $1.2 billion.
Weatherford submitted the lowest bid of $650 million for the
second 500-well tender.
"Weatherford and Schlumberger are already involved in the
(Chicontepec) business," said the industry executive, who asked not
to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
"They are defending their market with low prices."
He said his company would like to test out some of its drilling
technologies at Chicontepec, but only with an adequate return on
its investment.
"We're trying to get involved, but without working for
free."
Weatherford has run into some problems at Chicontepec, with
Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, fining
the company this year for an undisclosed amount for drilling delays
in 2008.
Weatherford and Schlumberger were not immediately available for
comment Monday. A Pemex spokeswoman said the company will announce
the official winners by March 20.
Chicontepec, an area slightly larger than Delaware that spans
three Mexican states, is a main pillar in Pemex's strategy to get
oil production back above 3 million barrels a day by 2015.
Pemex only expects to be producing 72,000 barrels a day at the
basin this year despite two years of aggressive drilling. But by
2015 Pemex says it will be producing 511,000 barrels a day, or a
sixth of total output.
Observers see that target as hard to meet. A well at Chicontepec
only pumps a few hundred barrels a day, compared with a few
thousand barrels at Mexico's prolific oil fields in the Gulf of
Mexico.
But these traditional fields are in steep decline and Pemex has
few other options where it can make up for lost ground. The company
is just beginning to explore in deep waters of the Gulf, for
example, where it takes around a decade to get a project
running.
-By Peter Millard, Dow Jones Newswires; 5255-5001-5724;
peter.millard@dowjones.com
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