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Italian energy giant Eni has announced a new natural gas discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, in deepwater areas offshore Mexico. The company stated that the discovery is estimated to hold potential resources of 300 to 400 million barrels of oil equivalent (MBoe).
The block where Eni is drilling for gas is located in the Sureste Basin, where the company has a total estimated resource base of over 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Eni plans to develop the area as a hub for exploiting several discoveries in the region.
News of Eni’s discovery comes on the heels of a report that Mexico’s richest man, Carlos Slim, is investing $1.2 billion in the development of another offshore gas field – the Lakach project, led by state energy firm Pemex.
Mexico has been ramping up its natural gas production and building new power plants to harness its gas resources and reduce its heavy reliance on imports from its northern neighbor, which currently stand at record highs.
Mexico recently updated its proven oil and gas reserves estimate, adjusting the total to 8,383 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Proven reserves are classified as P1, which is the best estimate of recoverable resources under current economic and technological conditions.
According to data from the Mexican government, released by the National Hydrocarbons Commission in June, the country’s proven crude oil reserves dipped slightly to 5,978 billion barrels from 6,155 billion barrels the previous year. However, proven natural gas reserves saw a significant increase, climbing to over 56 billion cubic meters.
Mexico’s president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, has pledged to boost investment in natural gas production. Sheinbaum’s energy plan envisages adding approximately 13.7 GW of new power generation capacity to the grid over the next six years, with a portion of this coming from solar installations. As part of this, Mexico is expected to add 3.3 GW of new capacity from gas and solar this year.
According to Oilprice
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