BHP picks three companies for Trion FSO engineering study

Australian firm BHP has selected three companies to deliver an early engineering study for floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit for the Trion field in the Mexican part of the Gulf of Mexico.

BHP said that the three companies in question were Altera Infrastructure – former Teekay Offshore, BW Offshore, and SBM Offshore.

According to
the Australian company, the early engineering studies for the FSO were awarded
following a competitive tender process. The work is anticipated to be completed
this year.

BHP president
operations petroleum Geraldine Slattery said: “This work reflects another
advancement for the Trion project and we look forward to working with the
selected contractors through this study phase.

“By engaging
with the selected contractors now, we’re better enabled to optimize the design,
and contracting and execution strategies for the FSO delivery”.

In March this year, BHP announced that it selected SBM Offshore, TechnipFMC, and McDermott to deliver an early engineering study for the semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU) for Trion.

Also, at the start of 2020, BHP contracted engineering specialist Doris Group for the execution of engineer services for the SURF and export pipeline scopes of work on Trion.

As for the
field, Trion lies in a water depth of 2,500 metres, some 30 kilometres south of
the US-Mexico border, and 180 kilometres from the Mexican coastline.

In a recent
announcement, the Australian company stated that the Trion field held 222 mmboe
net of 2C resources. BHP is targeting a projected breakeven of below $50 per boe.
Project sanction is possible from the 2022 financial year, with earliest first
oil from 2025.

There are
also plans in place to conduct additional exploration drilling in the Trion block
in 2021. BHP is the operator with a 60 per cent interest. PEMEX is its only
partner with a 40 per cent interest.