First steel cut on Trion floating storage and offloading vessel

SBM Offshore reports that first steel has been cut on the FSO Chalchi at the COSCO shipyard in Qidong, China, marking a “significant step forward” in Mexico’s first deepwater development.

As explained by SBM, the FSO’s name, Chalchi, is inspired by Chalchiuhtlicue, the Aztec water deity, meant to symbolize the project’s connection to Mexican history. 

The Suezmax-based FSO will feature a disconnectable turret mooring (DTM) system engineered by SBM Offshore and will be moored at the Trion field in 2,300 meters of water. It will operate in the Perdido Belt of the western Gulf of Mexico, approximately 180 kilometers off the Mexican coastline and 30 kilometers south of the US/Mexico maritime border.

The Chalchi FSO will be capable of storing up to 950,000 barrels of crude oil over its 27-year design life. 

The overall Trion project will be comprised of a semisubmersible FPU, the Chalchi FSO, and an array of subsea manifolds, horizontal trees and connectors. 

Development will also involve 18 deepwater wells to be drilled by the Transocean drillship Deepwater Thalassa starting in first-quarter 2026, with SLB managing the delivery of the wells over a three-year period.

SBM will operate the FSO under a lease agreement that runs for 20 years; that agreement was part of contract it signed with Woodside to build and operate the FSO in August 2024. 

The Trion project is a joint venture between Woodside Energy (60%, operator) and Pemex (40%). First oil is scheduled for 2028.