Zama oil find targets 2020 FID
Upgraded resource estimate from Mexican field boosts hopes of a financial decision, but a serious potential roadblock remains
Mexican president Andres Lopez Obrador took little time in shelving all planned licensing rounds when he secured office at the tail-end of 2018—rolling back a raft of energy reforms which had granted new entrants’ access to the sector for the first time since the sector’s nationally iconic 1938 nationalisation and ending state-owned oil and gas firm Pemex’s monopoly. But while further concessions have now been suspended, discoveries already made by beneficiaries of the reforms are moving towards first oil. The shallow water Zama discovery, first announced in 2017 by a consortium of operator US independent Talos Energy (35pc), Mexico’s Sierra Oil and Gas (40pc)—later taken over by Germany’s W
Also in this section
15 May 2025
Financial problems, lack of exploration success and political dogma cause uncertainty across much of the region
14 May 2025
The invisible hand of the market has seen increasing transparency but much more needs to be done to build a better understanding
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference
