Mexico's Oil Sector Turns to Tech to Boost Production Amid Decline

Mexico's upstream oil and gas sector is facing significant challenges as mature fields experience sharp natural decline rates, while shallow-water assets are plagued by operational delays. To overcome these hurdles, operators are adopting integrated service contracts, modular wellhead gas processing, and advanced software.

César Granados, Director General of CME Oil and Gas and OPEX, emphasizes the importance of restructuring offshore service models to eliminate logistical friction and disconnected vendor contracts that drive up non-productive time (NPT) and project budgets. Mexico offers a world-class engineering environment, but its value can only be unlocked through flexible commercial models.

Operators like CME/OPEX are deploying single general contractors to bundle platform drilling operations, supply vessel scheduling, and marine logistics into unified agreements. This contract model synchronizes fleet movements directly with rig operations, reducing vessel standby hours and bringing new wells online ahead of schedule.