BHP in $654m Australian deal
Resources giant BHP Billiton and Exxon Mobil have signed off on a A$1.4 billion (£654.7 million) investment in an oil and gas project off Australia's southeast coast.
They are partners in the Gippsland Basin oil and gas venture in the state of Victoria. Construction of the new Turrum field will start next year, allowing oil production to start in 2011, followed by gas sales in 2015, Exxon's Australian unit said.
It holds about 1,000 billion cubic feet of gas and 100 million barrels of oil and gas liquids, enough energy to power a city of a million people for 20 years, BHP says.
The project will have a life of about two decades and help meet Australian gas demand that is set to rise by 3.8% a year through 2030, Exxon estimates.
BHP has a 50% stake and has approved spending of A$625 million on the investment. It is the second of the partners' energy projects announced in the past eight months, after December's decision to proceed with the A$1.4 billion Kipper gas project in the Gippsland Basin.
