SBM Offshore has signed a US$465 million project financing agreement for FSO Chalchi, the floating storage and offloading unit under construction for the Trion project offshore Mexico.

The financing is being provided by a consortium of international banks and institutional investors. It also includes partial insurance cover from China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation. The funding will be drawn during the construction period and will become non-recourse after the FSO has started operations. The loans have a maximum tenor of approximately 14 years after completion.

FSO Chalchi will be operated under a 20-year lease and operate contracts with Woodside Energy through its Mexico affiliate, Woodside Petróleo Operaciones de México, S. de R.L. de C.V.

The newbuild FSO is based on a Suezmax-type hull and will be equipped with a disconnectable turret mooring system designed by SBM Offshore. It will be moored in water depth of about 2,500 m and will be able to store around 950,000 barrels of crude oil.

The unit will be deployed at the Trion field, located 180 km off the Mexican coastline and 30 km south of the US-Mexico maritime border. The Trion project is a joint venture between Woodside, which holds 60% and is the operator, and Petróleos Mexicanos, which holds 40% as non-operator.

Douglas Wood, CFO of SBM Offshore, said the transaction is the company’s first to combine commercial banks, institutional investors and support from an export credit agency. He said the financing structure provides a scalable solution for potential new lease-and-operate projects.