Steel cut for Woodside’s Mexico-bound FPU

A groundbreaking ceremony for the semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU) South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) is building for Australia’s energy giant Woodside has been held at the former’s yard in Ulsan, South Korea.

Held on November 13, 2024, the steel-cutting ceremony for the FPU Trion was attended by Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill, HHI President and CEO Lee Sang-kyun, and Mexico’s Ambassador to Korea Carlos Penafiel Soto, among others.

Measuring 94 meters in length, 94 meters in width, 57 meters in height, and weighing over 44,000 tons, the unit can produce 100,000 barrels of crude oil and 4.1 million cubic meters (cbm) of natural gas per day. HHI hopes the FPU will set sail for Mexico in the first half of 2027.

“This is an exciting moment for all those involved with the Trion Development, and we are pleased to be embarking on this important phase of work with HHI, our contracting partner for the floating production unit,” said Woodside CEO. “The steel-cutting ceremony kicks off a multi-year construction campaign for the Trion FPU, which is the critical path for the development as we progress towards targeted first oil in 2028.”

Following a final investment decision (FID) made in June 2023, Woodside handed out the FPU engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract to HHI, putting the South Korean player in charge of building the entire unit, including the topside and hull.

Afterward, HHI awarded contracts for pre-commissioning and commissioning planning to Gate Energy and detailed engineering of topside facilities to Wood. Corinth Pipeworks is set to deliver pipes for the project. 

The Trion project, which is being developed as a 60:40 joint venture between Woodside and Mexico’s PEMEX, is said to be more than 15% complete. It is hailed as the first oil production from Mexico’s deepwater, with the potential for future discoveries to be tied back to its facilities. The initial phase foresees the drilling of 18 wells, with a total of 24 wells planned over the life of the project.

The development is located in the Gulf of Mexico’s Perdido Basin at a water depth of 2,500 m, approximately 180 kilometers off the Mexican coastline and 30 km south of the Mexico-U.S. maritime border. In June, COSCO Shipping & Guangzhou Salvage Heavy Transport (CSGS) was picked to carry the FPU to its final destination. 

This was followed by SBM Offshore getting a contract to construct and lease for 20 years a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit for the development and then picking AXTech to deliver a buoy pull-in system for the new FSO.