Australian oil and gas company BHP, working to develop the Trion field offshore Mexico, has hired DNV GL to verify that the new infrastructure built for the Trion project is compliant with local and global safety, as well as other requirements.
BHP acquired the Trion asset in Mexico’s first-ever Deepwater Bid Round in 2016. The Trion field encompasses an area of 1,285 square kilometers and is located in the deep waters of the Perdido belt. BHP is the operator holding a 60% interest in the development and PEMEX is the non-operating partner with a 40% interest.
Last week, BHP awarded McDermott the pre-FEED contract extension for a Floating Production Unit (FPU) that could be installed at the Trion field.
Under the contract awarded to DNV GL, DNV GL will participate in design review activities and site surveillance during construction, commissioning, and installation of the floating production unit (FPU).
Located approximately 19 miles (35 kilometers) south of the U.S./Mexico border and approximately 112 miles (200 kilometers) from the Mexican coastline, the FPU will be installed in a water depth of approximately 8,200 feet (2,500 meters).
"The Trion oil field development is historic in the Mexican gulf and a milestone for all of us involved,” said Frank Ketelaars, Regional Manager, Americas, DNV GL - Oil & Gas. “It is indeed a recognition of DNV GL for our competence in professionally executing megaprojects of this scale internationally. DNV GL is honored to be the Classification Society involved in such a significant project, and we look forward to the growth of our partnership with BHP for years to come.”
The contracted verification scope DNV GL will carry out includes full project compliance to the Mexican offshore regulations, NOMs (Official Mexican) standards, and BHP’s safety case requirements. The scope of work also includes several independent analyses from DNV GL to be conducted during the front-end engineering design and detailed design phase of the project.