Page 7 - LatAmOil Week 13 2022

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

Amid pressure, predominantly from the UAE, a They also said there was a feeling that alter-
compromise was reached among member coun- native options may be under consideration,
tries in July 2021 to allow the quota reference including a one-off uptick in output from Saudi
levels for the top producers to be eased. Arabia and the UAE.
A deal was agreed for the baselines of the two The market is clearly ready for more produc-
top producers, Saudi and Russia, to increase tion, but the top OPEC producers will be wary
by 500,000 bpd to 11.5mn bpd each, with the of eating into their spare supply at a time when
UAE’s rising by 332,000 bpd to 3.5mn bpd as they may be called upon to provide larger vol-
Iraq and Kuwait also receive uplifts of 150,000 umes to compensate for a potential loss of more
bpd each, taking their baselines to 4.803mn bpd Russian supplies.
and 2.959mn bpd respectively. Having worked so hard to improve condi-
However, given uncertainty about Russian tions for exporters, Saudi Arabia in particular
and Kazakh crude, delegates speaking on con- will retain its cautious stance as it seeks to main-
dition of anonymity told various publications tain its position as the de-facto leader of the oil
this week that there is a careful balancing act to industry, with much of its power emanating
be done. from that spare capacity. ™

MEXICO
Talos confirms receipt of documents

naming Pemex as operator of Zama oilfield

US-BASED Talos Energy has confirmed its expects to see the working partners in the project
receipt of documents from Mexico’s Secretariat draw up and submit for approval a unit develop-
of Energy (SENER) finalising the decision to ment plan within the next six to 12 months, with
award Pemex, the national oil company (NOC), the aim of reaching the final investment decision
control of the offshore acreage that includes the (FID) stage sometime in 2023.
Zama oilfield. The US-based company said it would take
In a statement dated March 28, Talos said it part in the activities related to making the FID,
had received from SENER the unitisation res- while also evaluating its legal and strategic
olution (UR) that merges Block 7, where Talos options. It also stated that it did not expect SEN-
originally discovered Zama, with Uchukil 0152, ER’s decision on operatorship of the offshore site
an adjacent block assigned to Pemex, and also to affect its projections for capital expenditures
appoints Pemex as the operator of the unitised in 2022.
sites. Timothy S. Duncan, the president and CEO
“Unitisation of the Zama field was required of Talos, expressed disappointment in SEN-
after determination that the field is located ER’s decision to transfer the oilfield to Pemex’s
within both the Talos-operated Block 7 and an control.
adjacent Pemex-operated block, and provides However, he also encouraged rapid develop-
for joint development of the entire reservoir ment of Zama, the first major find made by a pri-
instead of each party developing its own block,” vate or foreign oil company in Mexico since that
it explained. country’s government adopted major reforms in
Under the UR, Talos is slated to retain a par- the oil sector, thereby ending Pemex’s 75-year-
ticipating interest of 17.35% in the Zama field. It old monopoly on exploration.

Zama was originally estimated to hold nearly 700mn barrels of oil (Image: Talos Energy)

Week 13 31•March•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7