Talos disputes Pemex’s Zama claim

Houston-based offshore upstream player Talos Energy has pushed back against a recent assertion by oil and gas giant Pemex that the majority of the Zama discovery in Burgos basin is in an area operated by the Mexican NOC.

Pemex’s claim is based on a study by a third-party reservoir engineering firm hired by both parties that concluded Talos held 49.6% of the discovery, while the remaining 50.4% was found to be in Pemex-operated areas. Pemex published the findings as part of its 2020 annual report.

“We believe the recent third-party analysis underestimates relevant data obtained during the appraisal campaign,” Talos CEO Tim Duncan said in a release. Duncan also said the definitive split would likely be established through a re-determination process and cited a previous independent evaluation hired by Talos last year that found the firm held 59.6% of Zama.

The debate is the latest in a long discussion that began when Zama, one of the most promising oil fields discovered by a private player in Mexico since the E&P sector was opened up to private participation in 2014, was found by Pemex to extend into the NOC’s areas. 

Both companies have been instructed by energy ministry Sener to strike a unitization agreement that would set the terms for resource-sharing under various conditions, as well as establish the area’s operator.

Pemex, Talos and partners Premier Oil and Sierra Oil missed the April deadline to hammer out a deal and were granted more time by Sener.