Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 39 2022

LatAmOil MEXICO LatAmOil

Report: Pemex did not notify regulators

about methane leaks in December 2021

MEXICO’S national oil company (NOC) the Polytechnic University of Valencia in June
Pemex does not appear to have submitted any 2022.
reports on the methane leaks detected at the However, it disputed the team’s conclusions
Ku-Maloob-Zaap oilfield cluster last December about the frequency, size and composition of
on the basis of satellite data from the European the leaks, citing a study performed by its own
Space Agency (ESA), according to a report from contractor Solal-Genermasa.
Reuters. In response, the research team has rejected
The news agency said earlier this week that Pemex’s contention that the leaks consisted
Mexico’s environmental regulatory agency largely of nitrogen, which has no effect on
ASEA had responded to its freedom of informa- climate. In a statement sent to Reuters, team
tion request about the incidents by stating that members said nitrogen was not visible to the
there were “no records” of “a possible incident at sensors they had been using. “There is no way of
the asset Ku-Maloob-Zaap in December 2021.” mistaking one for the other,” the statement said.
The leaks also seem to have gone unremarked “The startling emissions we reported were 100%
elsewhere, as Reuters went on to say that it methane, plain and simple.”
had not been able to determine independently Methane is often flared off during oil produc-
whether Pemex had reported the matter via tion operations to minimise harmful impact. It
another channel. is a key driver of climate change, as it is much
The NOC is subject to current Mexican more powerful than at trapping heat than car-
legislation that requires the reporting of such bon dioxide. However, it only lasts in the atmos-
leaks, noted nine experts consulted by the phere for around a decade. ™
news agency. Mexican law obligates oil and gas
producers to report methane leaks to ASEA
within 10 days of their occurrence, explained
the experts, all of whom are current or former
officials at Mexican regulatory agencies or the
Secretariat of Energy (SENER).
As of press time, neither Pemex nor ASEA
had commented publicly on the matter.
Pemex has partially confirmed reports of the
methane leaks, which occurred at the Zaap-C
platform in December 2021. It conceded last
month that methane was released from the plat-
form, as stated in an article published in Envi-
ronmental Science & Technology Letters by a
research team led by Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate at Satellite images showed a methane leak from the Zaap-C platform (Images: ESA)

CFEi sues two former executives in

Texas court over gas supply contracts

A privately owned subsidiary of the Fed- court on September 21, CFE Internacional
eral Electricity Commission (CFE), Mexico’s (CFEi) accused its former CEO Guillermo Tur-
national power provider, has filed a lawsuit in a rent and its former COO Javier Gutierrez of
Texas court against two former executives who breach of contract and breach of duty. Specifi-
were played a role in the signing of three natural cally, it alleged that Turrent and Gutierrez had
gas pipeline and supply contracts in 2016 and awarded gas deals improperly to WhiteWater
2017. Midstream, a US-based natural gas trader and
In a petition filed in a Harris County district pipeline operator.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 28•September•2022