McDermott put in charge of pre-FEED for Trion floater

McDermott International has been selected by BHP to perform the preliminary Front-End Engineering Design (pre-FEED) extension phase for a floating production unit (FPU) that could be installed at the Trion field offshore Mexico.

The Trion field is located approximately 19 miles (30 kilometres) south of the U.S./Mexico border and approximately 112 miles (180 kilometres) from the Mexican coastline.

McDermott said on Thursday that the FPU could be installed in a water depth of approximately 8,200 feet (2,500 meters).

McDermott added that the pre-FEED extension is expected to create greater value for the project by concentrating on the optimization of the design and execution strategy.

“We look forward to building on our strong relationship with BHP and Pemex with this latest contract award for the next phase in the Trion Project for the semi-submersible FPU”, said Mark Coscio, Senior Vice President for McDermott’s North, Central and South America region.

“We will work with the project to further develop the execution plan for Trion in order to optimize the design and pre-FEED scope for them”.

McDermott was awarded the contract for pre-FEED services for the Trion FPU in March 2020. Its scope includes engineering tasks related to the configuration, sizing and preliminary analysis of the FPU, including topsides, hull, risers and mooring.

McDermott noted it will work in close partnership with Houston Offshore Engineering and Wood on the Pre-FEED extension. McDermott will lead a single, integrated team to perform project management, execution planning and estimation services.

Houston Offshore Engineering and Wood will focus on engineering optimizations. Technical support for fabrication and integration planning will be provided by McDermott’s fabrication yards in Batam, Indonesia, and Altamira, Mexico.

McDermott is currently delivering the subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF), transportation and installation (T&I) and pre-commissioning of one jacket and topsides for the BHP Ruby Project located offshore Trinidad and Tobago.

BHP has also previously selected three companies to deliver an early engineering study for floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit for the Trion field.

Altera Infrastructure, BW Offshore, and SBM Offshore are expected to complete the project this year.

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.