U.S. offshore installation and construction company McDermott has been awarded a pre-FEED contract for a floating production unit that will be installed at BHP's Trion deepwater oil field offshore Mexico.
McDermott said the contract was a sizeable one, meaning it's worth between $1 million and $50 million.
The pre-FEED scope includes engineering tasks related to the configuration, sizing and preliminary analysis of the FPU, including topsides, hull, risers, and mooring.
The Trion field sits in a water depth of approximately 8,200 feet (2,500 meters), approximately 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of the U.S./Mexico border and approximately 112 miles (180 kilometers) from the Mexican coastline.
"McDermott will work in partnership with Houston Offshore Engineering (HOE) and Wood on the pre-FEED, with McDermott's Houston office leading engineering services—supported by its Mexico City office—and HOE and Wood providing engineering for the hull and topsides, respectively," McDermott said.
McDermott will perform project management, execution planning, and estimation services. Installation studies will be performed by McDermott's Marine Operations and technical support for fabrication and integration planning will be handled by McDermott's Mexico-based Altamira Fabrication Yard.
BHP acquired the Trion asset in Mexico’s first-ever Deepwater Bid Round in 2016. The Trion field encompasses an area of 1,285 square kilometers and is located in the Perdido belt at a water depth of approximately 2,570 meters. BHP is the operator holding a 60% interest in the development and PEMEX is the non-operating partner with a 40% interest.
The Australian company recently said that Trion held 222 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) net 2C resources. The company expects additional exploration drilling in the Trion block in 2021, targeting the opportunity to tie back prospects to future Trion hub.
BHP Billiton has previously said that the final investment decision (FID) for the Trion development might be expected somewhere between late 2022 and mid-2023, with first oil in 2025, at the earliest.