big oil fields declining

I found this on Bloomberg,

It shows some decline in one of the worlds largest offshore oil fields. This is what is happening at a lot of the huge fields that have been producing for many years. They have a finite life, something that most people do not think about.
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Pemex July Oil Output Falls 12% as Cantarell Declines (Update2)

By Thomas Black

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos, the third- largest supplier of oil to the U.S., said production fell 12 percent in July from a year earlier as output declined at Cantarell, the world's largest offshore oil field.

July's daily output dropped to 2.782 million barrels from 3.166 million barrels in the same month last year, the state- owned oil company, known as Pemex, said today on its Web site. In June, Pemex produced 2.839 million barrels.

Daily production at Cantarell, which first began pumping oil in 1979, plummeted 36 percent in July to 973,668 barrels from 1.526 million, according to an Energy Ministry Web site.

Faster-than-expected declines at Cantarell prompted Pemex to lower its oil production target in July for the second time in as many months. The Mexico City-based company reduced its 2008 daily production target to 2.8 million barrels from 2.9 million.

For the first seven months of the year, Pemex produced 2.845 million barrels a day, 10 percent less than a year earlier. Cantarell's daily production was 1.127 million barrels, 472,000 barrels lower than the same period last year, Pemex said.

Crude exports in July fell 22 percent to 1.377 million barrels a day from a year earlier. Daily exports were 1.415 million barrels in June.

Soaring Exports, Prices

Exports jumped to $5.24 billion in July because of higher prices, a 49 percent increase from a year ago. Oil export prices averaged $122.79 a barrel in July, almost double the $64.54 a barrel a year ago.

Pemex is the third-largest oil supplier to the U.S. Canada and Saudi Arabia are the first- and second-largest suppliers of crude to the U.S., Department of Energy data show.

Imports of fuels, including gasoline and diesel, more than doubled to $2.73 billion from $1.28 billion a year ago.

One bright spot for Pemex has been its increase in natural- gas production, which rose 11 percent in July to 6.902 billion cubic feet per day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Black in Monterrey, Mexico, at [email protected].

Last Updated: August 21, 2008 15:46 EDT
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All cvn's oil will be thirstily sucked up by the world, at premium prices for years to come...

cheers

Steve