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New study finds Pemex primary owner of Zama megafield

Mexico City, Mexico — A new study reveals that state oil company Pemex owns most of the Zama megafield, the first discovery made by private parties after the energy reform. The study was made after ownership of operation was disputed by the national oil company and the private consortium led by the US Talos Energy.

The oil company and a group of private parties have been discussing the future of the field for months. This last result could reduce possibilities for the consortium led by Talos to take over the operation.

The final report by independent experts (the name of the firm was not provided), the result of which was released by Pemex in its report to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), attributes 50.43% of the deposit to the state company and 49.57% to the private consortium.

Zama, with a potential producer of 670 million barrels of oil, was the first discovery made by the private company after the oil rounds derived from the energy reform.

The uniqueness of the oil-producing field is that it sits between an allotment owned by the state oil company and Block 7 awarded to Talos Energy a few years ago.

This last study result is a setback to the report presented earlier this year by Talos, and also made by a third party in which the company and its partners, the German Wintershall Dea and Premier Oil, are attributed 59.6% ownership of the field.

Pemex and the private consortium have been in talks deciding the future of the field’s operation for more than a year, so far, without being able to reach an agreement.

In March, after the second round of the talks expired, the future of the field operation and who will be in charge of it was left in the hands of the Ministry of Energy who will have about a year to issue a resolution on the matter and which should include the divisions of interest of the field and the operation of the same.

“We continue to press seriously to reach a full agreement on the commercial terms of the unification. We believe that the recent third-party analysis underestimates the relevant data obtained during the evaluation campaign,” said Talos Friday in a press release in which it mentions that the initial participation percentages are only one of the variables that are being determined for the operation agreement of the deposit.

Both Pemex and the private consortium have assured that they are interested in taking over the operation of the field. Talos defends that it has the technology and the resources to take the operation of the field to its maximum potential, while Pemex defends that it is a matter of national interest.

The talks to decide the future of Zama take place at a critical time for the industry due to the recurrent changes made by the federal government to the rules of the electricity and hydrocarbons market.