HOUSTON - Nov. 21, 2006 - Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP) has adopted software technology developed by The Information Store (iStore) to schedule and manage the activities performed with drilling rigs for exploration prospects, development wells and workovers. Known internally in PEP as SISPAP, the module was configured and tailored to the business needs of the Southern Onshore Region (RSUR) and is based on iStore's PetroTrek^® Asset Management Solution  for Drilling (AMS-D).

The RSUR operational program includes at least 70 drilling land rigs that are scheduled to complete more than 1,200 activities over a period of four to six years.

SISPAP is being used for PEP's quarterly and annual drilling operational programs. These programs are jointly created by users from three organizations: integrated production and exploration assets, drilling services, and planning. Through the system, users can check the availability of rigs and assign them to specific tasks using scenarios developed by AMS-D. As these scenarios are approved and undertaken, SISPAP is updated in real-time. The system assists with service requirements, provision of equipment like drilling rigs or trucks, and planning.

“The impact of SISPAP has been enormous,” said Jaime Gonzalez Alanis, planning general manager for Pemex's RSUR. “Users now can design effective operational programs based on factual and timely information. Management can track the status of the activities almost to the hour. We can rapidly adjust our planning scenarios because funds are not available, drilling permits have not been obtained, or engineering works have not been completed.”

In addition to gathering data on daily operations, SISPAP also retrieves online data from other systems allowing management to rank scenarios based on their incremental impact on reserves, production or profitability.

“Priorities are constantly adjusted in response to hydrocarbons markets and business strategies,” said Jose Luis Chaves Suarez, investments planning manager for RSUR. “Asset managers need to quickly adjust the sequence of activities and budgets. Wells with no approved budget funds rise to the top, while others that have approved funds are postponed to a later date. SISPAP retrieves data from our standard financial systems and gives us reports that allow redirection of available funds. Now, before an operational plan is released, we can easily rank the scenarios prepared by the assets using key performance indicators: incremental expected production, incremental reserves and project profitability.”

RSUR spans a large, swampy region in South Central Mexico with waterways that routinely change shape. SISPAP helps PEP work around the challenging topography, as well as a large number of ecological parks and archeological monuments.

“SISPAP has given us great flexibility to track and perform last-minute changes,” said Gonzalo Rodriguez Aguilar, manager of operational programming for RSUR. “Effort that used to take many people very long weekends and very late hours is now completed in just hours. The system is continuously updated, and it alerts asset managers when key activities are late. Furthermore, the quality of our integrated program is now much better because it encapsulates the joint know-how and experience of many PEP professionals working together in a coordinated way.”

SISPAP has been extended to interface with a variety of applications across PEP, including financial systems, administrative systems and geospatial applications such as Google Earth. A management dashboard is also being designed to provide key indicators, said Barry Irani, president of iStore.

“We are excited about the development and use of AMS-D”, said Irani. “This product is designed to satisfy a much needed business requirement. In today's marketplace, companies simply cannot afford to have drilling rigs, workover rigs and other equipment sitting idle even for a single moment. By interfacing with all areas of PEP operations, including financial systems, administrative systems and geospatial systems such as Google Earth, AMS-D helps ensure that Pemex's equipment is effectively deployed and is creating value at all times. It gives Pemex the flexibility to manage and optimize their entire drilling and workover portfolio by adjusting their activities in response to changing market conditions and many operational and other variables as they occur.”  

“The capabilities and flexibility offered by The Information Store have been terrific,” said Arturo Rivera, project leader for the implementation of SISPAP. “They work long, tireless hours to give us the functionality and connectivity required by our users.”

About The Information Store
The Information Store (iStore) helps petroleum companies access exploration and production (E&P) data wherever it resides and presents it in a useful form. As a result, customers improve asset performance, reduce cycle time and maximize return on investment. Most importantly, iStore's suite of software solutions puts the information E&P asset management teams need to make good decisions at their fingertips. Founded in 1994, the privately held company has offices in Houston, Canada and Mexico. For more information, visit www.istore.com 

About Pemex Exploration and Production
Pemex Exploration and Production explores, exploits, transports, stores and markets crude oil and natural gas. Pemex is the largest company in Mexico. In 2003, it was the ninth-largest oil and gas company and the third-largest producer of crude oil in the world. For more information, visit www.pemex.com.