Cantarell Field

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Cantarell Field or Cantarell Complex is the largest oil field in Mexico and one of the largest in the world. It is located 80 km offshore in the Bay of Campeche. This field comprises four major fields: Akal, Nohoch, Chac, Kutz and the recently discovered Sihil. Cantarell's oil production peaked at in 2004 and has declined in subsequent years, with further decline expected in the future.

The first field was discovered in 1976, and by 1981 the Cantarell complex was producing 1.16 million barrels (180,000m³) per day. However, the production rate dropped to 1 million barrels (160,000 m³) per day in 1995. Nitrogen injection projects, started in 1997, increased the production rate to 1.6 million barrel/d (250,000 m³/d), to 1.9 million barrel/d (300,000 m³/d) in 2002 and to 2.1 million barrel/d (330,000 km³/d) of output in 2003, which ranks Cantarell the second fastest producing oil field in the world behind Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia.

The nitrogen for the nitrogen injection process is supplied by the largest nitrogen production plant in the world. The plant currently consists of four production lines, each consisting of an air separation unit (ASU) powered by its own turbine generator, which is supplied with natural gas by PEMEX, and ancillary equipment. A fifth production line was under construction in late 2006. The nitrogen production plant was built by Linde Gas, and is owned and operated by a joint venture company which is majority owned by BOC Gases, which was itself in the process of being acquired by Linde in late 2006.

Luis Ramírez Corzo, head of PEMEX's exploration and production division, announced on August 12, 2004 that the actual oil output from Cantarell is forecast to decline steeply from 2006 onwards, at a rate of 14% per year. In March 2006 it was reported that Cantarell had already peaked, with a second year of declining production in 2005. For 2006 the output is expected to be 6 % lower than in 2005.

By 2008 it is estimated that Cantarell will only produce 1 million barrel/d (160,000 km³/d) as it continues to decline. This rapid decline is postulated to be a result of production enhancement techniques causing faster oil extraction at the expense of field longevity. The likely ramifications of this decline on world oil markets and downstream oil users are highly disturbing.

In order to try to maintain heavy crude production in the Bay of Campeche, PEMEX is focusing its efforts on the development of the Ku-Maloob-Zaap complex in an adjacent area, which can be connected to the existing facilities of Cantarell. Ku-Maloob-Zaap complex is expected to produce 0.8 million barrel/d (130,000 km³/d) by the end of decade.