PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas major Woodside is working towards an investment decision at Trion, in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2023.

Woodside noted during an investor briefing this week that the Trion project contains a resource of 500-million barrels of 2C contingent resource, with Woodside planning a semi-submersible floating production unit with a 100 000 bl/d oil capacity.

First oil at Trio is targeted for 2028, and the project is expected to require a capital investment of $6-billion to $8-billion.

The project would be Mexico’s first deepwater development.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill told investors that in addition to Trion, the company is also executing its growth projects at Sangomar, in Senegal, and the Scarborough/Pluto Train 2 projects in Australia, which are on target for first production in 2023 and 2026 respectively.

Furthermore, the Mad Dog Phase 2 development, also in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to be online in 2023.

“Our operating cash flow is forecast to remain at around $7-billion to $9-billion over the next five years. This, along with our strong debt profile with undrawn facilities of $4.1-billion, highlights the strength of the balance sheet and provides Woodside with the liquidity capacity for both major capital investment and shareholder returns,” O’Neill said.

“Woodside will continue to apply our clear capital allocation framework as we assess our opportunities in both conventional and new energy, all of which must support our net equity emissions reduction targets and commitments to shareholders.

“Woodside’s customer-led, scalable approach to investing our targeted $5-billion in new energy and lower carbon services is beginning to yield results. In recent months, we announced plans for a hydrogen refuelling station near Perth and awarded a major contract for the H2OK hydrogen project in the US, where an investment decision is being targeted for 2023 and first production in 2025.

“Our liquefied natural gas marketing strategy reflects changing global dynamics and we have expanded our presence in the Atlantic basin and increased volume of shorter-term trading of all products. Woodside is both building on our existing long-term relationships and diversifying our customer base to ensure our position as a partner of choice to buyers seeking reliable supply and energy security.

“We have already implemented initiatives to deliver more than $200-million in post-merger synergies and are on track to achieve net synergies of more than $400-million by 2024,” she said.