It was obsolete and did not have its second five-year review, explained the CNH.
The National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) informed this Thursday about the cancellation of NOM-026-SESH-2007 “Guidelines for oil seismological prospecting works and specifications of maximum energy levels”, issued in 2007, as it is already obsolete and has not had its second five-year review.
The Commission under the presidency of Agustín Díaz Lastra published in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) the Agreement CNH.38.06/2023 issuing the Notice of cancellation of this Mexican Official Standard (NOM).
“Said Official Mexican Standard did not have a second five-year review, and is currently obsolete, since it does not contemplate the entire universe of actors involved in this type of activities,” explains the CNH in the section on Considerations.
The NOM was prepared and issued on August 29, 2007 by the then National Advisory Committee for Hydrocarbon Standardization, part of the Ministry of Energy (Sener).
However, as the regulatory body refers, as of the 2013 energy reform, Sener was left without the power to standardize oil seismological prospecting, which was transferred to the CNH.
Likewise, the Notice explains that the NOM does not contemplate the entire universe of actors involved in this type of hydrocarbon industry activities.
Therefore, the governing body of the National Quality Infrastructure Commission (CNIC), created in 2020, in its second ordinary session last August 24, approved the cancellation of NOM-026-SESH-2007 and the publication of the corresponding notice in the DOF.
It should be recalled that NOM-026-SESH-2007 was born as a response to a recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission addressed in 2005 to Petróleos Mexicanos to issue a standard establishing the guidelines for seismic prospecting work.
In this regard, Sener carried out the corresponding procedures to issue a standard on safety distances for the location of firing points in the execution of seismic exploration studies with respect to civil constructions.
In the analysis, it was found that it was necessary to define adequate measures to establish the technical requirements to be met during the planning, design, execution and abandonment of the work area of an oil seismological survey, in which explosive charges, mechanical vibrations and pneumatic devices are used as energy sources, in order to safeguard the safety of the infrastructure.
Consequently, the NOM was issued, whose objective was to establish the requirements that must be met during the planning, design, execution and abandonment of the work area of a seismological petroleum prospecting study and to define the maximum permissible vibration amplitudes that guarantee the fulfillment of the petroleum objectives of the study without damaging the existing infrastructure in the area.
The problem with the NOM is that it was designed for activities carried out by Petróleos Mexicanos, as the sole operator at that time. In 2012 the first revision of the standard was carried out, while the second was pending, so this provision is now obsolete.
CNH cancels Mexican official norm on seismological oil prospecting
