Woodside Petróleo Operaciones de México S. de R.L. de CV (Woodside) subcontractor SBM Offshore signed a $465 million financing contract for the FSO Chalchi for Trion field, 180 km offshore Mexico and 30 km south of the US-Mexico maritime border.

The new build FSO is based on a Suezmax-type hull and will be equipped with a disconnectable turret mooring system designed by SBM Offshore. The FSO will be moored in about 2,500 m of water and will be able to store about 950,000 bbl of crude oil.

Trion lies in the Perdido Fold Belt at depths in 2,500–2,600 m of water and is Mexico’s first ultra-deepwater oil development comprising 24 subsea wells connected to a new floating production unit (FPU) and FSO. Trion is targeting 479 MMboe of best estimate (2C) contingent oil and gas.

The project financing is provided by a consortium of international banks and institutional investors and includes partial insurance cover from China Export & Credit Insurance Corp.

Woodside is operator at Trion (60%) with partner PEMEX Exploración y Producción (40%).