| Transcript |
HHA# 00481
Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
OFFSHORE ENERGY CENTER
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
Interviewee: ALFONSO BARNETCHE
Date: October 6, 2001
Place: Houston, Texas
Interviewers: Tyler PriestPage 2 of 12
University of Houston 2 Houston History Archives
HHA# 00481
Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
Side A
TP:
AB:
This is an interview with Mr. Alfonso Barnetche for the
Offshore Energy Center’s Hall of Fame induction. The
date is October 6, 2001. The interviewer is Tyler Priest
from the University of Houston.
You were beginning to talk about PEMEX.
Well, as you know, PEMEX is owned by the Mexican
government. The industry was nationalized in 1938. And
I have been a petroleum engineer since 1935. So, I used
to work with the former companies, with Sinclair Oil
Company and Administracion General del Petroleo Nacional.
And in spite of having started to study petroleum
engineering with five other students, I graduated first
because I stayed one more year in college in order to
also be a civil engineer. So, I am the first petroleum
engineer who graduated in Mexico, in the National
University.
In 1935?
In 1935. So, I worked three years with companies. And then one day, the industry was taken over by the government. I became a member of PEMEX and I worked 30
TP:
AB:
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University of Houston 3 Houston History Archives
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Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
TP:
years. I retired after completing exactly 30 years of
service with PEMEX, Sinclair and AGPN. That was in 1965.
How many years ago? That was 35 years ago. But I have
always been doing some petroleum engineering work.
And when you started with PEMEX, your mission was to
collect all the geological and drilling data from the nationalized companies?
At the beginning when I was working for PEMEX; yes. I
worked as a geologist and then I became one of the
petroleum engineers. In 30 years, I finally became, for
the last 18 years, a petroleum engineer in charge of
production and exploration drilling of PEMEX.
I didn’t realize that PEMEX’s first offshore well was way
back in 1959. The Santana field? Is that right?
Santana. Yes. It was in 13 meters of water. But
anyway, it was a complete platform from which many wells
were drilled.
Did you draw on experience in the Gulf of Mexico, what
the companies were doing in the Gulf of Mexico at the time, as a model for what you developed out there?
TP:
AB:
TP:
AB:
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University of Houston 4 Houston History Archives
HHA# 00481
Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
AB:
I don’t remember who designed the Santana platform but I
think it was McDermott.
TP: Was it McDermott? O.K. Thirteen meters. And it was
quite a successful development, right? Forty producing
wells?
AB: Yes.
TP: What else can you tell me?
AB: I used to go, at vacation time, to Lobos island. It is
an island between Tuxpan and Tampico. I always thought
that that island had something to do with petroleum
because it was an elevation of the bottom of the sea, and
sometimes these topographic features are related to the
geology. So finally, I ordered a seismograph survey. It
was a dome.
TP: A salt dome?
AB: No, it was a dome but not a salt dome. We drilled a well
and it became productive.
TP: Which companies were involved with that?
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Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
AB: PEMEX, really. There were no platforms in that case.
Well, we made kind of a platform and drilled the wells
from that platform built out of the material excavated
from the coral reef.
TP: So you built an artificial island or you drilled on the
island itself?
AB: On the coral reef, we made four walls with piles. I
don’t know what the verb is but we excavated some of the
coral material and put it inside these four walls.
TP: Oh, I see. So, an artificial reef of some sort?
AB: An artificial place to install the drilling rig.
TP: O.K. That is interesting.
AB: I believe it is still producing.
TP: Really? So, it wasn’t a very large development? It was
mainly just that one well?
AB: I am not sure.Page 6 of 12
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Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
TP: That is interesting. Are there any interesting stories
that you can tell me?
AB: I think it was 12 years later, after my retirement, I was
called by PEMEX to work on the development of the Bay of
Campeche.
TP: And you sought out Brown & Root? How did you come…
AB: Along with Brown & Root.
TP: How did you chose Brown & Root? How did you come to
Brown & Root to help you?
AB: Well, at that time, there were not many people doing
offshore work. I think it was McDermott and Brown &
Root.
TP: And you formed a company, Proyectos Marinos?
AB: Yes, Proyectos Marinos.
TP: That was an incredible development.
AB: Yes, it was done very rapidly. The production -- I don’tPage 7 of 12
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Interview Date: October 6, 2001
remember the exact figures —— but from 500,000 barrels a
day to 3.5 million barrels per day.
TP: And they have recently been redeveloping in one of the
fields, right?
AB: During the last six years, it has been Cantarell.
TP: What special problems did you encounter or challenges
with Cantarell Development? You put a lot of platforms
out there in a very short period of time, didn’t you?
AB: That’s right. Well, what I am trying now is to convince
PEMEX to go after some more oil offshore in deep water.
TP: In the central Gulf of Mexico?
AB: Well, there are many places in the Gulf of Mexico where
you can find oil fields, I think. But it has to be
proven. We had to do a lot of work before.
TP: PEMEX must see what is happening on the northern side of
the Gulf with deep water. They must be very interested.
AB: PEMEX, they are producing a little more than 3 millionPage 8 of 12
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Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
barrels a day. Their aim is to reach 7 million barrels
per day, at the end of this six years. One year has gone
already! But I think they want to do it.
TP: Going back to the Cantarell development, I have to ask
you: There was a spectacular blowout that Brown & Root
was involved in helping to deal with the Ixtoc blow. Do
you have any memories of that time or any memories of
that had that spectacular fire?
AB: Ixtoc blowout has nothing to do with Cantarell
development and it was a deal directly handled between
PEMEX and Brown & Root. The work done by Brown & Root
was not included in Proyectos Marinos contract. I have
no memories of that fire. But I remember something
interesting. We were very confident that we were going
to find oil offshore in large quantities, that before the
discovery well for that area was completed, we had
organized Proyectos Marinos to design some of the
necessary platforms.
We had to increase production from 500,000 barrels to
3.25 million barrels per day. Someplace, I had mentioned
the number of platforms . ..
TP: In Cantarell? I have it somewhere, too. I think I havePage 9 of 12
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Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
it in here. I can’t find the number of platforms. I
know it was a lot because I know Brown & Root was
building several platforms at a time at Greens Bayou and
people said that was one of the most unbelievable . ..
AB: 90 platforms.
TP: I remember people at Brown & Root talking about how that
was an unbelievable project because there was just so
much going on.
AB: When developing the deep water areas, I think, many more
fields there, big fields, will be discovered.
TP: Do you remember the operation on Sombrero for Brown &
Root? The big Sombrero that they had to try to contain
the oil that was coming out of the Ixtoc well. That was
quite a job that people did to kill that. You have to
hand it to everyone involved.
AB: I don’t remember the name of the way used to control the
Ixtoc well.
TP: Ixtoc.Page 10 of 12
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Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
AB: Ixtoc. That’s right. It took quite a while to control
the well. The only way to keep that well was drilling
two directional wells and then injecting water through
them.
TP: And it took something like nine months or something.
That is amazing. Is there anything else you want to add
about your offshore experience?
AB: I hope PEMEX will go into the developing of the Gulf of
Mexico in deep waters. I think they will because I think
in the Gulf of Mexico, we could find so much oil that we
compare that area with the Middle East …
TP: Do you think they are that large?
AB: Oh, yes.
TP: I remember a geologist from Shell saying, “I know there
is oil. I just know it in my bones, there is oil all the
way across the Gulf.”
AB: One of the fields, the Cantarell field, has become the
largest oil field in the world. And seismologically,
there are many other structures similar to Cantarell, byPage 11 of 12
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Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
geophysical work, but they have to be drilled in order to
really see.
TP: You can’t get oil until you drill the well.
AB: That is what we are trying to do.
TP: Are there any other stories you would like to tell about
your experience with the offshore?
AB: Not now.
TP: Well, it has been very nice talking to you, and
congratulations on your induction into the Hall of Fame.
It is a nice honor.
AB: Thank you very much.
THE ENDPage 12 of 12
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HHA# 00481
Interviewee: Barnetche, Alfonso
Interview Date: October 6, 2001
Alfonso Barnetche-Rev. 2
April2002
Offshore Energy Center —Oral History Project
Interview of Alfonso Barnetche
October 6, 2001
1. PEMEX 2
2. PEMEX’s first offshore well 3
3. Island exploration 4
4. Artificial reef use 5
5. Bay of Compeche 6
6. Brown and Root and Projectos Marinos 6
7. Brown and Root @ Greens Bayou 8-9
8. Ixtoch 9
9. The Gulf of Mexico and The CanterllField 10 |
