Offshore staff
PERTH, Australia — Woodside has taken FID on the deepwater Trion oilfield development offshore Mexico.
Pending sanction from partner Pemex and regulatory approval of the field development plan, expected this fall, the project could deliver first oil in 2028.
Woodside operates with a 60% interest with Pemex holding the remaining 40%.
Pemex discovered the field in 2012 in a water depth of 2,500 m, 180 km from the Mexican coastline and 30 km south of the Mexico/US maritime border. BHP Petroleum acquired an interest in 2017 and this transferred to Woodside last year following the company’s acquisition of BHP’s global petroleum business.
Development of Trion will involve the installation of a 100,000-bbl/d FPU, connected to a 950,000-bbl capacity FSO, and 18 wells (nine producers, seven water injectors and two gas injectors) in the initial phase. Six more wells will be added later.
Woodside estimates total capex at $7.2 billion; its $4.8-billion share includes a capital carry of Pemex of about $460 million. The investment should achieve an internal rate of return (IRR) of more than 16%, the company claimed, with a payback period of less than four years.
The project will target development of 2C resources of 479 MMboe. The subsurface has been extensively appraised, Woodside claimed, with six well penetrations across the field.
CEO Meg O’Neill said the project execution would draw on her company’s deepwater expertise. Main contracts will progressively be executed following joint venture approval.
“Trion has an expected carbon intensity of 11.8 kgCO2-e/boe average over the life of the field, which is lower than the global deepwater oil average,” she added, "and will be subject to Woodside’s corporate net equity Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction targets…
“Two-thirds of the Trion resource is expected to be produced within the first 10 years after startup.”
06.20.2023
