Mexico’s Zama set to win FID battle

The ‘world-class’ field could get a green light next year, following repeated delays and a resolved operatorship dispute

US independent Talos Energy and partners—including Mexico’s state-owned Pemex—plan to submit a field development plan (FDP) for the Zama field to Mexican regulator the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) “by March 2023” at the latest, Talos says. Once the FDP is approved, “the parties will then move toward FID later in 2023”, Talos adds. That March 2023 deadline for the FDP submission was set under the unitisation resolution agreed between Talos and Pemex in March this year, which named the NOC as Zama’s operator. Under the agreement, Talos retains a 17.35pc working interest in the field, which is expected to produce around 160,000bl/d once fully operational. The FDP “originally envisione