Akal

Akal Oil Field Profile

The Akal oil field is located approximately 80 km offshore the Yucatan Peninsula in the Bay of Campeche, Mexico, within the Cantarell complex.
It is situated in shallow water, with typical water depths ranging from 35 to 40 meters.
The field is characterized as a fractured carbonate reservoir with high permeability due to extensive fracturing, a thick reservoir section (over 3,000 feet), and high structural relief. There is no original gas cap, and the original reservoir bottomhole pressure exceeded 3,800 psia.

The Akal field was discovered in 1976, and production began in June 1979.
Initially, production from the field peaked at nearly 1.2 million barrels per day (b/d) in April 1981, sustained through the drilling of 139 development wells that used gas lift and reduced back-pressure restrictions.
By 2004, the field reached its peak production of approximately 2,042.05 thousand b/d of crude oil and condensate, along with 701 million cubic feet per day (Mmcfd) of natural gas.

The Akal field contains a significant portion of the Cantarell complex's reserves, with 91.4% of the 35 billion barrels of original oil in place (OOIP).
As of recent data, the field has recovered 98.51% of its total recoverable reserves. Remaining recoverable reserves are estimated at 215.19 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mmboe), comprising 103.61 million barrels of crude oil and condensate, and 669.44 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas.
Current production levels are significantly lower than the peak, with approximately 10.66 million barrels per year of crude oil and associated gas production.

Over the past 20 years, the reservoir pressure in the Cantarell field, including Akal, has declined by more than 60%, leading to operational difficulties such as falling well fluid levels and an increased need for lift gas.
To address these challenges, Pemex has undertaken a major modernization and expansion project. Key components include:
- Building the world's largest nitrogen-generation plant to supply 1,200 MMcfd of nitrogen gas for reservoir pressure maintenance.
- Constructing new platforms and modernizing existing ones to increase oil and gas production and handling capacity.
- Developing new complexes (Akal L and B) and building a floating storage and offloading facility (FSO) for handling oil production.
- Laying over 400 km of new subsea pipelines to augment the existing network.
- Modernizing gas compression and processing facilities to generate lift gas offshore.

The field's fractured nature precludes water injection due to the risk of water fingering through fractures and fault systems, which could lead to premature watering out of producing wells. Instead, gas injection is used for pressure maintenance.
A gas-injection test was conducted to determine the suitability and design parameters for gas injection, including the number and locations of new injection platforms and wellhead injection pressures.

The Akal field is a critical component of Mexico's oil production, currently accounting for approximately 3% of the country’s daily output.
The field has been a major contributor to Mexico's economy, particularly during periods of high crude oil prices and economic restructuring in the 1990s.

The Akal oil field is operated and owned by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's state-owned integrated oil and gas company.