Pemex gas flaring at Quesqui, Ixachi fields sparks controversy

Reports of illegal flaring of large amounts of gas and condensate at two of the fastest-growing fields operated by Mexican oil and gas giant Pemex have caused controversy.

Internal documents leaked from "the country's oil regulator" (although not named, it presumably refers to hydrocarbons regulator CNH) allegedly show that Pemex burnt output estimated to be worth US$342mn at its flagship Ixachi and Quesqui fields in the three years until August 2022, according to a Reuters report.

The issue, which is produced when the fields' processing plants become overwhelmed by their output, has been a longstanding concern of the press and environmental advocacy groups. The company was fined 42mn pesos (US$2mn) by the CNH for breaching emissions targets at Ixachi in August last year.

Pemex has often made pledges to minimize or end flaring. In November last year, CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza said the company would gradually reduce the practice at Ixachi throughout 2023 as the new Papan processing plant came online and reached full capacity.

On Tuesday, Pemex exploration and production arm PEP launched a tender to hire verification services to ensure the environmental plans approved for its activities were being met.

At Ixachi, Pemex allegedly burnt 31% of the total gas produced, or 62.9Bf3 (billion cubic feet), in addition to 310,000b of condensate, Reuters reported.

Pemex is in the midst of an ambitious bid to rise its output, especially in natural gas. Ixachi and Quesqui, together with legacy field Tupilco Profudo, which has been revived by spudding at much lower depths, are at the forefront of this strategy.

By the end of 2023, Pemex expects the three fields to produce 2.2Bf3/d (billion cubic feet per day), which would be growth of 60% over estimated average output for December 2022.