SBM Offshore has signed an agreement to sell a 45% ownership interest in the companies that will lease and operate FSO Chalchi to Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK).
After the transaction closes, SBM Offshore will keep a 55% stake and remain the majority shareholder. The sale is still subject to customary approvals and closing conditions.
FSO Chalchi is under construction for the Trion deepwater project offshore Mexico. The unit will work under 20-year lease and operation contracts with Woodside Energy through its Mexican affiliate.
Trion is being developed by Woodside Energy, which holds a 60% operating interest, and Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which owns the remaining 40%.
The newbuild floating storage and offloading unit is based on a Suezmax-class hull. It will use SBM Offshore’s disconnectable turret mooring system and is designed to store about 950,000 barrels of crude oil.
The unit will be deployed in water depths of around 2,500 m. The Trion field lies about 180 km offshore Mexico and 30 km south of the U.S.-Mexico maritime border in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
The agreement extends the existing partnership between SBM Offshore and NYK while supporting the development of the Trion project.
