Pemex Can’t Afford to Develop the Oil Field It Fought to Control
- State-owned company needs almost $2 billion to develop Zama
- Pemex floated idea of Zama partner using oil as collateral
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Petroleos Mexicanos fought tooth and nail to wrest control of the country’s biggest private oil find from the companies that discovered it. Now it has found itself without the cash to actually develop the field.
After taking operational control of the Zama megafield last month, the Mexican state-owned oil producer doesn’t have the nearly $2 billion needed to develop the prospect over the next five to seven years, said people familiar with the discussions being held at Pemex, asking not to be named because the information isn’t public.