Could you give us some context about Paradigm?

We are the largest independent software provider in the oil and gas industry. We belong to Apax, a large private equity firm. We have great flexibility to focus on developing high-quality software and solving scientific problems to tackle the challenges of today in locating and developing reserves in deep waters, unconventional reservoirs, carbonates, and fold belts. We have 720 employees in 27 offices in 25 countries, and our software is used in about 100 countries worldwide. We have been selling software to Mexico since the early 80s. Today, we can play a very important role and help Mexico reverse or mitigate the production decline, particularly in some of the world’s largest oil fields.

Our software portfolio is complete. We have applications that transform field data (well data or seismic data) into reservoir models. We do not develop reservoir simulators, but we connect to industry standard simulators. We also have drilling engineering and planning software.

What is the importance of R&D for Paradigm?

Paradigm is known for having brought innovation to the history of oil and gas. We have 26 years of history developing applications that change the way oil companies and service companies operate thanks to our global presence. We constantly receive inputs from geological basins and their conditions from all over the world. Geological basins are very different around the world, so you need to design your software to accommodate it to the geology and conditions of these unique assets. Approximately one-third of our company works in our research and development department. We have R&D offices in different parts of the world, and each one of them is a specialized center of excellence in some area of expertise.

What are the main challenges that Mexico is facing today?

The first challenge is to reverse the decline in production in its main field, Cantarell. Paradigm can help geoscientists understand their petroleum system and help them find other undiscovered fields by generating better seismic images, better formation evaluations, and better subsurface models. The second challenge is exploration in deep-water areas in the Gulf of Mexico. Improvements in imaging seismic technologies, high-pressure and high-temperature well technologies, and subsurface modeling can help locate new prospects and avoid drilling in overpressure zones. The third challenge is unconventional reservoirs, for which we have very good tools.

Pemex is changing a lot with the energy reform and changing the way they approach production in their main fields, with a greater emphasis on data integration. Paradigm has the technology to integrate all this data. Pemex used to operate each asset separately; now they need a global overview and are open to new technologies. In this context, Paradigm has the right tools to help Pemex manage their fields.