Harbour Energy has issued an international public bid invitation for the development of the Zama oil field offshore Mexico, marking a significant step forward under its operatorship of the major shallow-water project.
The company, acting as operator of the Zama unit, is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from national and international companies for a front-end engineering design (FEED) scope for an FPSO vessel, including a lease-and-operate option.
Interested parties must submit EOIs within seven calendar days of the tender’s publication, with detailed information to be shared exclusively with registered companies.
Submissions should be sent to [email protected].
The tender is one of several recently launched by Harbour for the Zama project, alongside packages for subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF), subsea production systems, and 3D ocean-bottom node seismic acquisition.
Harbour was appointed operator of Zama in late December 2025, with approval from partners including Pemex (≈50.4%), Talos Energy, and Grupo Carso. Harbour holds a 32.2% operated interest.
The shift to Harbour’s leadership aims to accelerate development of the large oil discovery, which holds substantial resources (hundreds of millions of barrels recoverable). Zama is one of Mexico's largest offshore oil discoveries in recent years, with estimated recoverable resources of about 600-800 MMbbl.
Partners are advancing a phased, capital-efficient development concept centered on an FPSO for initial production. Front-end engineering and design activities are targeted for completion in 2026, paving the way for a FID in late 2026 or 2027. The project has seen previous delays but has gained momentum since unitization and the operatorship transition.
The partners selected an FPSO-centered development concept to enable phased production while reducing upfront infrastructure requirements.
Harbour says that this FPSO tender underscores its push to optimize concepts and move the long-anticipated Zama project closer to first oil. Industry observers will watch closely for contractor responses and subsequent FEED awards in the coming months.
Further updates are expected as the bidding process advances and additional tender results emerge.
