SLB has been awarded a contract by Woodside Energy to drill 18 ultra-deep-water wells for the Trion development project offshore Mexico.

The contract involves utilising SLB’s integrated services and AI-enabled drilling capabilities to enhance operational efficiency and well quality.

The scope of the contract includes cementing, completions, digital directional drilling services, drilling and completions fluids, logging while drilling (LWD), surface logging and wireline services.

Services are set to commence in early 2026 and will be managed through SLB’s Performance Live digital service delivery centres.

Woodside is developing the Trion field in partnership with Pemex, with first production targeted for 2028.

Discovered by Pemex in 2012, the field lies at a water depth of 2,500m.

It is located within the Perdido Fold Belt, approximately 180km off the Mexican coastline and 30km south of the US/Mexico maritime border.

The project will represent the first oil production from Mexico’s deep water, with the potential for future discoveries to be tied back to Trion facilities.

SLB Offshore Atlantic president Wallace Pescarini said: “With water depths of up to 2,500m, the Trion development presents challenging technical conditions for drilling and well construction.

“SLB has extensive expertise in ultra-deep-water drilling projects globally and advanced technologies, including AI and digitally enabled hardware, to bring these wells online safely, efficiently and reliably. We will also leverage the strategic investments we have made in local talent and supply chains in Mexico, which will help support the on-time delivery of this project.”

This contract follows a previous major contract awarded to the SLB OneSubsea joint venture (JV) in 2023 by Woodside for the Trion development.

The earlier contract covers subsea horizontal trees, controls and topside equipment, with manufacturing currently on track.

In a related development, SLB secured a series of drilling contracts earlier this year to enhance Shell’s deep and ultra-deep-water operations globally.

This collaboration, spanning three years, will support Shell’s capital-efficient energy development across assets in the UK North Sea, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Gulf of Mexico.