Weekly Report - 21 March 2006

MEXICO | Sharp decline in oil output predicted. Mexico's crude oil production could decline from the current 3.3m barrels per day to about 2m bpd over the coming three to four years says David Shields, a private consultant who holds dual Mexican-US nationality. Shields, author of the book Pemex, la reforma petrolera, dismisses government claims that a recently discovered offshore field plus the Chicontepec deposits hold 28bn barrels of oil, which could support a production of 1m bpd. These so-called prospective reserves, he says, are in unexplored areas and hence purely imaginary, as opposed to the 'possible' ones (of which 10% may exist), the 'probable' ones (50%) and the so-called 'proven' ones (90%).

End of preview - This article contains approximately 322 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options

• Subscribe
• Sign up for a one-time, 14-day trial