伍德赛德能源集团6月20日表示，已批准开发价值72亿美元的墨西哥湾Trion超深水石油项目，这是该集团自去年与必和必拓集团石油部门合并以来的首项重大投资。

Woodside 是 Trion 60% 的所有者和运营商，预计其资本支出份额为 48 亿美元。剩余资金将由墨西哥国有石油公司 Pemex 提供，该公司拥有 Trion 40% 的股份。

伍德赛德表示，该资源将通过浮式生产装置（FPU）进行开发，石油生产能力为每天 10 万桶。首次生产预计于 2028 年进行。

Woodside 表示，预计该投资的内部回报率将超过 16%，投资回收期不到四年。

花旗研究部的分析师在一份报告中写道：“Woodside 对 Trion 做出的 FID（最终投资决定）比我们预期的要早几个月。”

花旗分析师补充道：“股票投资者需要更加关注绿地项目（尤其是石油项目）成本曲线的回报和竞争定位……我们认为在这方面四年的回报具有吸引力。”

Woodside首席执行官梅格·奥尼尔(Meg O'Neill)在声明中表示，这项投资超出了公司的资本配置框架目标，并将为其现金流和股东回报做出强有力的贡献。

继承该项目的必和必拓集团计划在 2022 年就 Trion 做出最终决定。但全球大型项目的制造组件成本不断上升导致了延误。

Trion 是墨西哥国家石油公司于 2012 年发现的。它位于墨西哥的佩尔迪多盆地，距墨西哥海岸线约 180 公里（112 英里），水深 2,500 米。

该项目的目标是开发约4.79亿桶油当量的石油和天然气。

伍德赛德经常因其气候目标而成为环保组织和激进投资者的焦点，该公司表示，投资决定并未改变其温室气体减排目标。

该国最大的独立石油和天然气生产商的股价上涨 1.6%，而大盘上涨 0.5%。

然而，激进投资集团 Market Forces 的代理首席执行官 Will van de Pol 表示，“伍德赛德决定在 2023 年推进新油田建设，是对《巴黎协定》气候目标的又一次数十亿美元的赌注。”

Woodside Energy Group said on June 20 it had approved the development of the $7.2 billion Trion ultra deepwater oil project in the Gulf of Mexico, its first major investment since its merger with BHP Group's petroleum arm last year.

Woodside, 60% owner and operator of Trion, forecast its share of the capex at $4.8 billion. The remainder is set to be funded by Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex , which owns 40% of Trion.

The resource will be developed through a floating production unit (FPU) with an oil production capacity of 100,000 barrels per day, Woodside said. First production is targeted for 2028.

The investment is expected to deliver an internal rate of return greater than 16%, with a payback period of less than four years, Woodside said.

"Woodside has taken FID [final investment decision] on Trion a few months earlier than we had anticipated," analysts at Citi Research wrote in a note.

"Equity investors need to have a greater focus on payback and competitive positioning on the cost curve for greenfield projects, particularly oil ... we consider the four-year payback to be attractive in this regard," Citi analysts added.

Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill said in the statement that the investment exceeded the company's capital allocation framework targets and would be a strong contributor to its cash flows and shareholder returns.

BHP Group, from whom the project was inherited, was aiming for a final decision on Trion in 2022. But rising costs for manufacturing components for mega projects worldwide led to delays.

Trion was discovered by Pemex in 2012. It is located at Mexico's Perdido basin, about 180 km (112 miles) off the Mexican coastline at a depth of 2,500 metres.

The project will target the development of an estimated 479 million barrels of oil equivalent of oil and gas.

Woodside, which has frequently found itself at the crosshairs of environmental groups and activist investors over their climate goals, said their greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets remain unchanged by the investment decision.

Shares of the country's biggest independent oil and gas producer were up 1.6%, against a 0.5% gain in the broader market .

Activist-investor group Market Forces' acting CEO Will van de Pol, however, observed that "Woodside's decision to push ahead with a new oilfield in 2023 is yet another multi-billion dollar bet against the climate goals of the Paris Agreement."