Jose A.L. Aquino¹, Jose M. Ruiz², Marcos A. Flores², Jesus H. Garcia²

(1) Petroleos Mexicanos, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
(2) Petroleos Mexicanos, Cd. Carmen, Campeche, Mexico

ABSTRACT: The Sihil Field: Another Giant below Cantarell, Offshore Campeche, Mexico

The Cantarell Field, discovered in 1979, is one of the largest oil fields in the world. It is located on the Continental Shelf in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, in the east-central part of the Campeche Slope, at 80 km from Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico.

This oil giant is a mature field and it has produced around 7000 MMB of oil during 20 years of exploitation. It is made up of four blocks: AKAL, NOHOCH, CHAC and KUTZ. AKAL is the most important one, containing over 90% of the oil reserves. Both heavy oil and gas, coming from Upper Cretaceous carbonated breccia are produced from this field by 183 wells, using primary and secondary recovery methods.

The project related to the existence of a prospective hydrocarbon trap located below the Cantarell Field, came into being in 1990, but due to the quality of geological and geophysical data and the structural complexity of the area, no exploratory drilling was carried out. The final exploratory results indicate that the new discovery, Sihil, surpasses all the expectations of the autochthonous block, exceeding by a lot the quantities of oil reserves established by previous paradigms. This discovery allows Pemex Exploration and Production establish a strategic plan to add hydrocarbon reserves using data provided by research of other underlying blocks.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado