Cantarell Field facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cantarell
Cantarell offshore rigs, 2009
Country	Mexico
Region	North America
Offshore/onshore	Offshore
Operator	Pemex
Field history
Discovery	1976
Start of production	1979
Peak of production	2004
Production
Current production of oil	159,300 barrels per day (~7.938×10^6 t/a)
Year of current production of oil	2019
Producing formations	Jurassic

The Cantarell Field or Cantarell Complex is a very large offshore oil field in Mexico. It was discovered in 1976. A fisherman named Rudesindo Cantarell Jimenez first noticed oil in the water in 1972. This led to the discovery of the field.

In 2000, a special method called nitrogen injection was started. This helped to get more oil out. The field produced the most oil in 2004. At that time, it was Mexico's biggest oil field. It was also one of the largest oil fields in the world. However, since 2004, its oil production has gone down. In 2009, another field called Ku-Maloob-Zaap became Mexico's largest oil field instead.

Where is the Cantarell Oil Field Located?

Cantarell is located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast of Mexico. It is in the Bay of Campeche. This large oil area has four main parts: Akal, Nohoch, Chac, and Kutz. Akal is by far the largest part.

The oil here is found in special rocks formed from a huge asteroid impact. This impact created the Chicxulub Crater. A newer oil area, called Sihil, was found below the others. It holds lighter oil and is usually seen as a separate field. However, it can use the same equipment already in place.

How Did the Cantarell Oil Field Form?

The oil in Cantarell is found in rocks that formed after the Chicxulub impactor hit Earth. This impact created the Chicxulub crater. It also left behind broken rock pieces. These pieces later became the oil reservoir for fields like Cantarell.

The rocks where the oil is stored have small spaces, like a sponge. These spaces allow oil to collect. Later, in the early Miocene and Pliocene periods, the land folded. This folding created traps where oil and gas could gather. The Cantarell Complex has four main sections: Akal, Nohoch, Chac, and Kutz. Underneath the Akal section is a fifth part called Sihil. Oil was found there in 1998.

Cantarell Oil Production History

By 1981, the Cantarell complex was producing a lot of oil. But by 1995, the amount of oil produced each day had dropped. To help increase production, a nitrogen injection project was started in 2000. This project included the world's largest nitrogen plant. It was built on land in Atasta Campeche.

This nitrogen injection helped a lot. Oil production went up quickly. In 2003, Cantarell was the second fastest producing oil field in the world. Only the Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia produced more. However, Cantarell had much less oil in total than Ghawar. Because of this, its production started to fall fast after 2004.

Unfortunately, the nitrogen used to push out oil has mixed with the natural gas. This makes the gas less valuable. Soon, the gas will need to be cleaned to remove the nitrogen. This will allow the gas to be used as fuel.

In 2004, experts predicted that Cantarell's oil output would drop sharply from 2006. This decline happened as expected. By 2006, the field's output had fallen by over 13%.

By July 2008, the daily production rate dropped by a lot. Some experts think this fast drop happened because of methods used to get oil out faster. These methods might have helped in the short term but hurt the field's long-term life. By January 2009, Cantarell's oil production had fallen even more. This caused a big drop in Mexico's total oil production.

Pemex, the company that runs Cantarell, expected the decline to continue. They hoped it would stabilize around 500,000 barrels per day. But by September 2009, production was already at that level. This was one of the fastest declines ever seen in the oil industry. Production continued to fall. In June 2014, it was at 340,000 barrels per day. Pemex planned to spend a lot of money to try and stop the decline. They hoped to keep production around 325,000 barrels per day for another ten years. However, production kept going down. In 2019, it was 159,300 barrels per day.

To keep producing heavy oil in the Bay of Campeche, PEMEX started focusing on the Ku-Maloob-Zaap complex. This area is next to Cantarell. It can use Cantarell's existing equipment. In 2009, Ku-Maloob-Zaap became Mexico's most productive oil field.

Images for kids

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  Flight over Cantarell, Yucatan at the horizon

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  Cluster of production platforms

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  Closeup of two major platforms

See also

In Spanish: Complejo Cantarell para niños

• List of oil fields
• Petroleum industry in Mexico