Mexico—zero to hero

A string of successful auctions has set the stage for an exploration boom in Mexican waters

Mexico's energy reforms are opening vast areas of the country to explorers, and if early results are any guide it may prove to be fertile hunting grounds. The first post-reform exploration well in Mexico was a blockbuster. A consortium led by Gulf of Mexico specialist Talos Energy found as much as 2bn barrels in place at its shallow-water Zama-1 well in a lightly explored area of the Sureste Basin. It is likely one of the three largest offshore discoveries in the world over the past five years, comparable to ExxonMobil's Liza find off Guyana's coast. Unlike Guyana and other frontier areas, however, Zama is near shore in a country with an already developed oil and gas infrastructure, reducing