Mexico

Early production from Area 1 is the first output from an international operator in Mexico since energy reforms were implemented earlier this decade.

Operator Talos Energy now believes Zama’s gross recoverable resource lies in the upper half of its pre-appraisal estimate of 400–800 million BOE. The consortium is working toward a 2020 final investment decision on the project.

The state-owned firm is looking within its home country, around Southeast Asia, and to the Americas—including shale—in an effort to maintain its forecast average yearly production of 1.7 million BOE/D over the next 5 years.

The decision may alleviate some of the pressures oil and gas producers faced in the wake of their imposition last year. Canada and Mexico made up a combined 20% of US imports of oil country tubular goods in 2017.

An EIA report shows natural gas exports reaching 4.6 Bcf/D in February, the 13th consecutive month in which the country's natural gas exports exceeded its imports. Exports are projected to reach 7.5 Bcf/D by 2020.

A partnership between ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil, and XTO Energy has resulted in the opening of a new clinic catering to the safety and health of oil and gas employees in Carlsbad, New Mexico. ​

DEA Deutsche Erdoel is buying Sierra Oil & Gas, giving the German operator stakes in six new blocks off Mexico—including the Zama discovery, where appraisal drilling is now under way.

The Italian firm is slated to become the first international operator to produce oil from Mexican waters since energy reform took hold. The launch of early production from Area 1 is expected in first-half 2019.

With presidential elections looming and energy reforms at a critical juncture, the two Latin American energy powers awarded a bevy of blocks to a who’s who of international oil companies.

CNH President Juan Carlos Zepeda discusses the role of information management in Mexican energy reform and what lies ahead for the monumental industry transformation in an election year.