Pemex, BHP considering Trion FPSO

HOUSTON, March 7, 2018 – Mexico’s NOC and its partner BHP Billiton are looking into development options at the deepwater Trion field, including installing an FPSO, the Australian company’s president of operations told reporters on Tuesday.

“This field appears to be well-suited for an FPSO,” Steve Pastor said during the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.

Pastor said that option would allow for a greater degree of efficiency, as Trion’s oil could be offloaded directly to tankers instead of being piped to shore. While more expensive, a floating facility would also enable more rapid and flexible crude exports.

BHP Billiton entered Trion in December 2016 as Pemex’s first-ever farm-out partner. The field is thought to contain about 485 million boe in recoverable reserves, requiring USD 11 billion to reach full development.

Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, Pemex finalised two contracts with its other two farm-out partners: Cheiron in Cárdenas-Mora and DEA Deutsche Erdoel in Ogarrio. Together, the onshore fields are expected to attract more than USD 1.5 billion in investments. With its partners, Pemex aims to raise production at the mature fields using secondary recovery techniques.

The NOC is looking to establish more farm-out partnerships in maturing areas during 2018. Speaking at the CERAWeek conference, Pemex general director Carlos Treviño told reporters that the company was interested in finding partners for two shallow-water fields containing heavy crude.

“We are looking to increase production, including heavy crude, so we might put on the table some farm-outs, mainly for those fields that need secondary recovery strategies,” Treviño said. “The name of the game in Pemex right now is partnership.”

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