Pemex Wants Petrobras' Deepwater Magic
What I Cover Julianne Geiger is a veteran energy journalist and market analyst with more than a decade of experience covering the global oil and… When you're drowning in debt, plagued by declining production, and running a refining business that seems chronically allergic to profits, buddying up with a more successful partner starts looking like a sound strategy.
That's essentially what just happened between Mexico's Pemex and Brazil's Petrobras.
The two state-controlled oil giants signed a memorandum of understanding this week to collaborate on exploration, production, refining, natural gas, petrochemicals, and more.
But the headline item? Deepwater exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.
Petrobras is arguably the world's premier deepwater operator, having spent two decades perfecting the art of pulling oil from Brazil's massive pre-salt reservoirs buried thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor.
Those discoveries transformed Brazil into an energy powerhouse and helped Petrobras build one of the most attractive offshore portfolios anywhere in the world.
Pemex, meanwhile, has been watching production decline as mature fields like Cantarell continue to fade.
The company still carries roughly $80 billion in debt, posted anotherquarterly lossthis year despite elevated oil prices, and remains heavily dependent on government support.
Petrobras has beenaggressively expandingits exploration portfolio, recently adding acreage in Namibia, Colombia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and elsewhere as it looks beyond Brazil for future growth.
The company has also racked up a series of offshore discoveries and continues to generate some of the lowest-cost barrels in the industry.
side of the Gulf of Mexico produces roughly 2 million barrels per day from deepwater fields, Mexico's side remains largely untapped.
The big question isn't whether the oil is there.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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