VIEW FROM THE TOP
TAKING THE LEAD: THE ZAMA DISCOVERY TIMOTHY DUNCAN President and CEO of Talos Energy
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Q: How is Talos capitalizing on its experience in the US side
A: With the merger between Talos Energy and Stone
of the Gulf of Mexico to expand its portfolio to Mexico?
Energy, our company has acquired more scalability for
A: Talos has honed its exploration skills in the US Gulf of
its operations and a stronger balance sheet to position
Mexico for decades and the results of that process are
itself as a partner of choice on both sides of the Gulf of
achievements like the Zama discovery. The successes, and
Mexico. We hope to leverage that position not only into
even failures, that we have had in the past on the US side
asset deals but potentially into other corporate transactions
fuel our ability to continue to find and develop material
with companies looking for the right partner they can trust
discoveries like Zama. Our portfolio of prospects in Mexico
to execute the program they have begun.
gives us a richer, more diverse corporate portfolio that will allow us to optimize capital allocation, which is the
Q: What led to the significant discovery in Zama-1?
key to building value in the upstream oil and gas industry.
A: The key to success at Zama was to do our homework
Mexico gives us a range of prospects, geological risk and
ahead of time. That started with developing a reprocessed
production time frames to choose from.
seismic dataset that focused on the Lower Pliocene through the Miocene regionally. Once we had a good handle on the
Q: What capabilities does Talos bring as an operator into
regional and then local structural picture, then we could
its consortium with Sierra Oil & Gas and Premier Oil?
make some well-educated estimates of the pore pressures
A: With the level of success that we have been fortunate to
that would be encountered in the drilling of the well. In the
have so far in Mexico, we have shown everyone that Talos is a
execution of the well, our pore pressure estimates turned
partner that can contribute significantly to any aspect of the
out to be very helpful in safely drilling a sparsely-drilled
upstream sector. From prospecting to drilling to governmental
new area.
relations, Talos has demonstrated the ability to create value in Mexico and the US. Very little of our process or technology
Q: How does the 1.4-2 billion boe discovery in Zama-1
involves intellectual property or methods unknown to the
impact Talos’ reserves portfolio and its future activities
rest of industry. What Talos brings consistently, though, is
in Mexico?
an entrepreneurial spirit, a focus on excellence and a strong
A: At this moment, the oil discovered at Zama is classified
sense of urgency. These values truly power our achievements
as a contingent resource instead of a reserve. Once a
in Mexico. In our role as operator, Talos takes the lead in all
final investment decision has been completed and the
aspects of the consortium, from geology and geophysics to
development plan has been approved by the government,
reservoir engineering, legal and commercial negotiations,
these resources will migrate into reserves and will have a
drilling operations and field development planning. Our
significant impact on Talos. The biggest impact will be the
partners certainly contribute with their specific skills and a
cash flow that will enable the company's further growth.
wide range of experience, and all of that comes together to allow us to develop such an important discovery.
Q: How can Mexican service companies become a strategic ally of Talos in the Gulf of Mexico?
Q: How will the merger between Talos Energy and Stone
A: The best way for a Mexican service company to work
Energy impact Talos?
closely with Talos is to consistently and reliably provide industry best practices with accountability and an innovative spirit. Talos values partners who are unafraid to continually
Talos Energy is an oil and gas company based in Houston and
bring their best ideas to the table and break from traditional
focused on offshore exploration and production. Its expertise
local practices to create outstanding results. Anyone who
includes a strong emphasis on asset optimization and E&P in
wants to work closely with Talos should never tell us, “that
the Gulf of Mexico
is the way we have always done it.�
