Mexican state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) will be the operator of the Zama oilfield offshore Mexico, which was discovered in 2017 by a consortium led by Talos Energy Inc.

Talos

The decision culminates one of several high-profile skirmishes between President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government and the private energy sector.

Talos said Monday it had received the final unitization resolution from energy ministry Sener giving operatorship to Pemex.

“We are disappointed that despite our consistent track record of success, safety and progress we were not provided the opportunity to retain our role as operator for the benefit of the project,” said Talos CEO Timothy Duncan. 

The discovery spans the shallow water Block 7 operated by Talos and a neighboring area...