BHP today announced that it has filed with the National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) a Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) in respect of the Trion discovery area located in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico offshore Mexico.

The DoC was filed by BHP on behalf of itself and PEMEX Exploración y Producción (PEMEX), as the signatories to the Trion Exploration and Production License. BHP holds a 60 per cent interest (and operatorship) in Trion. PEMEX holds a 40 per cent interest.

The DoC confirms that BHP and PEMEX consider the Trion discovery area, located within the boundaries of the License, to be commercial subject to and in accordance with the terms of the License. Submission of the DoC follows a successful appraisal campaign carried out by BHP and PEMEX over the Trion discovery area.

As announced on 5 August 2021, the BHP Board has approved US$258 million in capital expenditure to move the Trion oil project in Mexico into the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase. These studies are underway, focused on completion of the engineering, commercial arrangements and execution planning required to progress the Trion project to a Final Investment Decision.

The Trion project is expected to deliver an Estimated Ultimate Recovery (EUR) of 275 million barrels of oil equivalent (BHP share). These volumes are expected to be produced through a Floating Production Unit (FPU) with a nameplate capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil per day.