Despite the fact that last year there were rumors about its intentions to sell oil assets in the world, the Australian BHP Billiton has not lost its interest in the Trión field where it is associated with Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) towards the first development in Mexican deep waters, and will even add an additional study not contemplated in its development plan and that will culminate until next year, according to the approval of the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH).
This Thursday, the governing body of the regulator authorized the company to prepare the “Geotechnical Study of Deep Waters in Trión”. This is the authorization registered with ARES-BHP-MX-18-4Q5/3359-22in the modality that includes the acquisition of field data.
The objective of the study is to acquire and analyze 59 seafloor cores and 37 Cone Penetration Tests (CPT) in an area of 230 km² in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, in support of subsea installation projects. . This is a project to characterize the surface stratigraphy of the deep sea floor, for the study area, up to 40 meters deep, in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the Lost Folded Belt Area.
The study will last 238 days in total, starting on June 15, 2022, and ending on February 8, 2023.
”Among the benefits that the project will provide, the generation of new data on possible surrounding geological risks in the Project area stands out; increase knowledge and experience on the early stages of design and planning in the development of oil fields in deep waters in Mexico”, stated the CNH.
In addition, it will allow to continue with the development of new oil fields and increase the production of hydrocarbons in the country, as well as optimize the development of oil fields through the implementation of best practices for the design and development of subsea infrastructure in deep waters.
In August of last year, the board of directors of bhp approved a $258 million investment in capital expenditures to bring the Trión oil project in Mexico to the engineering design phase.
bhp He explained then that the focus of these studies will be the completion of the engineering, commercial agreements and execution planning necessary to move towards a final investment decision starting in the middle of calendar year 2022.
The foregoing, after for weeks it transpired that due to low oil prices and the transition to renewable energies, he is analyzing the possibility of leaving the oil and energy business to dedicate himself completely to mining.
bhp It has a 60% interest and the operation of blocks AE-0092 and AE-0093 that contain the Trión discovery located in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Mexico. His partner, Pemex Exploration and Production Mexico it has a 40% stake in the blocks.
“This Board decision also marks an important milestone in advancing the development of Trion as we continue to work with our partner Pemex toward a final investment decision in calendar year 2022,” Geraldine Slattery, president of petroleum operations, said at the time. from bhp.
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