Woodside Energy has formally awarded key contracts, including the $1 billion-plus engineering, procurement and construction contract for the floating production unit to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, for its $7.2 billion Trion ultra-deepwater field development offshore Mexico after receiving regulatory approval from the host government.

SBM Offshore has won the contract to install the FPU and floating storage and offloading vessel for Trion, while Transocean has secured the development drilling gig and OneSubsea UK has won the contract to supply the subsea trees.

SBM Offshore is expected to soon be formally awarded the EPC contract for the FSO and subsequently, as that lead contractor, to award the front-end engineering and design contract for this floater to Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry of China.

Trion's project execution phase activities are progressing, Woodside noted, adding that first oil is expected in 2028 from the offshore field, a legacy asset in its portfolio following its acquisition of BHP Petroleum.

Trion will be exploited utilising a FPU with oil production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day. The FPU will be connected to a FSO vessel with storage capacity of 950,000 barrels of crude.

The development is expected to include 18 wells — nine producers, seven water injection wells and two gas injectors — drilled in the initial phase, with a total of 24 wells drilled over the project life.

Produced oil is expected to be shipped to international markets, while gas that is not reinjected or used on the FPU will be delivered to the domestic natural gas pipeline network via a subsea gas pipeline.

Trion lies in a water depth of 2500 metres approximately 180 kilometres off the Mexico coast and just 30 kilometres south of the maritime border with the US.

Mexico's national oil company Pemex discovered the field in 2012 and BHP five years later acquired an interest before the Australian company’s upstream assets were acquired last year by Woodside.