LatAmOil: BHP approves capex spending for Trion project

Australia’s BHP has approved plans to spend more than $250mn on work at Trion, a deepwater field located off the coast of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

In a statement, BHP said that its board of directors had approved plans to allocate $258mn in capital expenditures at Trion. The funds will be used to move the project into the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase, it reported.

This decision clears the way for US-based McDermott International to begin implementing the FEED contract it won from BHP earlier in 2021. In turn, the statement said, the Australian company will use the results of the FEED study to help decide whether to proceed with development work at Trion.

“The focus of these studies will be on completion of the engineering, commercial arrangements and execution planning required to progress to a final investment decision [FID] from mid-calendar year 2022,” it explained.

Currently, BHP has a 60% stake in AE-0092 and AE-0093, the two blocks that encompass the Trion field, and also serves as operator of the project. The remaining 40% is held by Mexico’s national oil company (NOC) Pemex.