Cantarell Output Down 34% YOY In Q1 2009 - Total Mexico Oil Output Down 7.8% For Same Period

[hatrack]

MEXICO CITY, April 21 (Reuters) - Mexican oil production fell 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 2.667 million barrels per day as output from the aging Cantarell field slid further, state oil company Pemex on Tuesday. Mexico pumped 2.891 million bpd of crude in the first quarter of 2008, according to the energy ministry.

Pemex said Cantarell produced 787,000 bpd in the first three months of 2009, down 34 percent from the same period in 2008 when the field yielded 1.195 million bpd.

The company has forecast oil production will be between 2.7 and 2.8 million bpd in 2009, but analysts are skeptical the company can step up output sufficiently at other fields to make up for the relentless decline of Cantarell.

Pemex officials say increased output from fields such as Chicontepec in the second half of the year will help lift average production numbers back into the targeted range. Oil production fell at a slower rate in March than for the quarter as a whole. Mexico produced 2.652 million bpd in March, down 6.6 percent from the same month in 2008.

EDIT

http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINN2148560120090421

[Democracyinkind]

1. Just as predicted... Now just wait until the Saudis start being honest about Ghawar....

..and the party truly begins!

[Nihil]

2. Tick ... tick ... tick ...tick ...

...

BOOM!

"That was unexpected ..."