The Chicontepec Basin (Chicontepec Formation) is a petroleum system in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
north-east of
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, covering an area of around in the states of
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
,
Puebla
Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...
and
Hidalgo. Several oil fields have been discovered in that area since 1926. A major field was discovered in 1973 but contains
extra heavy crude, which due to special refining needs is considered unviable at this time. Since that time, tiny amounts of oil have been produced. While the reserves are overwhelmingly extra heavy crude, pockets of lighter
tight oil
Tight oil (also known as shale oil, shale-hosted oil or light tight oil, abbreviated LTO) is light crude oil contained in Unconventional (oil & gas) reservoir, unconventional petroleum-bearing formations of low Permeability (earth sciences), perme ...
, as well as
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
, are also found in the basin.
Attempts at increasing output
In March 2006, Mexican President
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the Nat ...
announced that Pemex would invest US$37.5 billion over the next 20 years on the oil fields of Chicontepec. It was hoped that this will boost output to . Pemex's chief executive estimates that 20,000 wells are to be drilled in order to exploit this field.
Intensive drilling has taken place in Chicontepec in recent years, starting with a contract for 500 new wells offered in December 2008. However, results in terms of output have been disappointing, with the field still yielding a modest in May 2012.
See also
*
Petroleum industry in Mexico
References
{{coord missing, Hidalgo (state)
Geologic formations of Mexico
Oil fields in Mexico
Geography of Hidalgo (state)
Geography of Puebla
Geography of Veracruz
Pemex