21st Oct 2009 07:00
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NEWS RELEASE |
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Release Time |
IMMEDIATE |
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Date |
21 October 2009 |
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Number |
20/09 |
BHP BILLITON EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT
FOR THE QUARTER ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
This report covers the Group's exploration and development activities for the quarter ended 30 September 2009. This report, together with the Production Report, represents the Interim Management Statement for the purposes of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. There have been no significant changes to the financial position of the Group in the quarter ended 30 September 2009. Unless otherwise stated, BHP Billiton's interest in the projects referred to in this report is 100 per cent and references to project schedules are based on calendar years.
Development
During the quarter, we sanctioned the Mt Arthur Coal mine expansion (energy coal), known as the MAC20 Project, in the Hunter Valley, Australia.
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Project And Ownership |
Share Of Approved Capex US$M |
Initial Production Target Date |
Production Capacity (100%) |
Quarterly Progress |
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Petroleum Projects |
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Pyrenees (Australia) 71.43% Oil/Gas |
1,200 |
H1 CY10 |
96,000 barrels of oil and 60 million cubic feet gas per day |
On schedule and budget. Floating Production Storage and Offtake (FPSO) conversion scope has been completed with sea trials and commissioning activities continuing. Installation of subsea facilities continue. All tophole sections drilled. 5 producers and 1 injector well completed. |
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Angostura Gas Phase II (Trinidad and Tobago) 45% Gas |
180 |
H1 CY11 |
280 million cubic feet gas per day |
On schedule and budget. Platform fabrication continues. |
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Bass Strait Kipper (Australia) 32.5% - 50% Gas/Gas Liquids |
500 |
CY11 |
10,000 bpd condensate and processing capacity of 80 million cubic feet gas per day |
On schedule and budget. West Tuna platform retrofit work continuing. |
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Bass Strait Turrum (Australia) 50% Gas/Gas Liquids |
625 |
CY11 |
11,000 bpd condensate and processing capacity of 200 million cubic feet gas per day |
On schedule and budget. Platform fabrication continues. |
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North West Shelf CWLH Life Extension (Australia) 16.67% Oil |
245 |
CY11 |
Replacement vessel with capacity of 60,000 bpd oil |
On schedule and budget. Floating Production Storage and Offtake (FPSO) conversion continues. |
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North West Shelf North Rankin B Gas Compression (Australia) 16.67% LNG |
850 |
CY12 |
2,500 million cubic feet gas per day |
On schedule and budget. Jacket fabrication continuing ahead of schedule. |
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Minerals Projects |
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Worsley Efficiency & Growth (Australia) 86% Alumina |
1,900 |
H1 CY11 |
1.1 million tpa of additional alumina |
On schedule and budget. Engineering is 85% complete and construction has commenced. Procurement and contracting activities are well advanced. |
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Iron Ore (Western Australia) RGP4 86.2% Iron Ore |
1,850 |
H1 CY10 |
26 million tpa of additional iron ore system capacity |
On schedule and budget. Engineering is complete, construction is essentially complete, and commissioning activities are well advanced. First ore is expected to be produced in Q4 CY09. |
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Iron Ore (Western Australia) RGP5 85% Iron Ore |
4,800 |
H2 CY11 |
50 million tpa additional iron ore system capacity |
On schedule and budget. Engineering is over 80% complete, procurement and contracting activities are well advanced, and construction has reached 18% complete. |
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Klipspruit (South Africa) 100% Energy Coal |
450 |
H2 CY09 |
Incremental 1.8 million tpa export thermal coal. Incremental 2.1 million tpa domestic thermal coal |
On schedule and budget. Commissioning of the crushing stream and coal processing plant Module 1 is complete. Project is 98% complete. |
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Douglas-Middelburg Optimisation (South Africa) 100% Energy Coal |
975 |
Mid CY10 |
10 million tpa export thermal coal and 8.5 million tpa domestic thermal coal (sustains current output) |
On schedule and budget. Construction activities are progressing well with civil works complete. The erection and installation of the coal processing plant continues. Project is 74% complete. |
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Newcastle Third Port Project (Australia) 35.5% Energy Coal |
390 |
CY10 |
30 million tpa export coal loading facility |
On schedule and budget. Stacker reclaimer commissioning has commenced with the remaining construction activities progressing well. Project is 75% complete. |
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MAC20 Project (Australia) 100% Energy Coal |
260 |
H1 CY11 |
Increases saleable thermal coal production by approximately 3.5 million tpa |
Approval announced, see News Release dated 24 July 2009. On schedule and budget. Fixed plant construction underway. Project is 20% complete. |
Minerals Exploration
BHP Billiton continues to identify and prioritise various exploration activities. All of the exploration activities are reviewed regularly to ensure that we are capturing value accretive opportunities for future development.
Grassroots exploration continued on copper targets in Chile, Argentina and Zambia; nickel targets in Australia; manganese targets in Gabon; and diamond targets in Canada. Exploration for iron ore, coal, bauxite and manganese was undertaken in a number of regions including Australia, South America, Russia and West Africa.
For the quarter ended 30 September 2009, BHP Billiton spent US$104 million on minerals exploration, of which US$95 million was expensed.
Petroleum Exploration
Exploration and appraisal wells drilled during the quarter or in the process of drilling as at 30 September 2009.
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Well |
Location |
BHP Billiton Equity |
Status |
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Mad Dog South-1 |
Green Canyon Gulf of Mexico GC 826 |
23.9 % BHP Billiton (BHP Billiton operator for this well - BP operator for all other activities) |
Hydrocarbons encountered. See News Release dated 17 July 2009. |
Petroleum exploration expenditure for the quarter ended 30 September 2009 was US$29 million, of which US$26 million was expensed.
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our website: www.bhpbilliton.com
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Australia Samantha Evans, Media Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 2898 Mobile: +61 400 693 915 email: [email protected] |
United Kingdom Andre Liebenberg, Investor Relations Tel: +44 20 7802 4131 Mobile: +44 7920 236 974 email: [email protected] |
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Peter Ogden, Media Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 2812 Mobile: +61 428 599 190 email: [email protected] |
Illtud Harri, Media Relations Tel: +44 20 7802 4195 Mobile: +44 7920 237 246 email: [email protected] |
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Kelly Quirke, Media Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 2896 Mobile: +61 429 966 312 email: [email protected] |
United States Scott Espenshade, Investor Relations Tel: +1 713 599 6431 Mobile: +1 713 208 8565 email: [email protected] |
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Leng Lau, Investor Relations Tel: +61 3 9609 4202 Mobile: +61 403 533 706 email: [email protected] |
Ruban Yogarajah, Media Relations Tel: US +1 713 966 2907 or UK +44 20 7802 4033 Mobile: UK +44 7827 082 022 email: [email protected] |
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South Africa Bronwyn Wilkinson, Investor and Media Relations Tel: +44 20 7802 4015 Mobile: +44 7500 785 892 email: [email protected] |
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BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077 Registered in Australia Registered Office: 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia Tel +61 1300 55 4757 Fax +61 3 9609 3015 |
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