Houston Chronicle by Amy Stillman 7/5/2021
Mexico squeezes out Talos consortium in operation of private companies' oil discovery
Mexico’s energy ministry has designated Petroleos Mexicanos as the operator of the country’s largest oil discovery by private companies, in the latest sign of the government’s nationalist approach to the energy industry.
The decision to rescind Talos’s operatorship of Zama is indicative of the new reality for international and private oil companies under the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. His government has sought to roll back the 2013-2014 energy reforms that opened Mexico to private drilling, and wants to return much of the energy sector to Pemex. One of his first moves as president was to suspend new crude auctions, which had lured the world’s biggest oil companies to Mexico.
Major producers that once flocked to the country are now considering other options, and the decision to award Zama operations to Pemex will create more tension with the U.S. over the North American trade deal, said John Padilla, managing director of consultancy firm IPD Latin America.
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Mexico-squeezes-out-Talos-consortium-in-operation-16294571.php
