13th Oct 2005 07:01
BHP Billiton PLC13 October 2005 13 October 2005Number 39/05 BHP BILLITON UPDATE ON US GULF OF MEXICO OPERATIONS BHP Billiton's petroleum exploration and production operations in the US Gulf ofMexico (GoM) have recommenced following Hurricane Rita. After completingnecessary inspections, both the Mad Dog and Genesis fields have safely resumedproduction. The West Cameron 76, Starlifter, Green Canyon 18-Ewing Bank 988, andGreen Canyon 60 fields are in various stages of start-up and are expected toresume in the next few days and weeks. This schedule is dependent on theresumption of third-party downstream infrastructure, including pipelines,onshore terminals and other facilities. BHP Billiton's share of production from the GoM for the 12-month period endedJune 30, 2005 was approximately 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). As of October 10, the company's production level had returned to about fortypercent of this rate. As previously disclosed, the Typhoon facility was heavily damaged by HurricaneRita. The timing of production resumption from the Typhoon and Boris oil and gasfields is unclear. For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2005, 4.3 millionbarrels of oil and 7.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas were produced throughthe Typhoon facility (BHP Billiton share: equivalent to approximately 15,000 boe/d). In the current financial year, production through Typhoon was expected tobe less than 5 percent of the company's total oil and gas production. The operator of the Typhoon field (Chevron) has formed two teams; aninvestigation team has been charged with determining why the facility was lostand a restoration team will recommend how best to restore Typhoon-Borisproduction. It is too early to speculate on the findings and recommendationsfrom either team. We expect the investigation team to take several weeks and therestoration team to take several months to complete their work. The company holds both property damage and business interruption insurance inrelation to the assets in the GoM. The likely recovery from insurance is notknown at this stage. Among other activities, the company's GoM exploration and development drillingoperations have resumed. As a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, all wellschedules have been delayed by 4-6 weeks. The effect that these delays will haveon production in future years is difficult to assess at this time. The company does not currently see any impact on the first-oil schedules for itsAtlantis or Neptune developments. The Atlantis field is the next BHP Billitondevelopment to come on-stream. This is still anticipated during the thirdquarter of 2006. However, flow-on effects from further delays with third-partyservice providers to other projects or unusually severe marine conditions overthe next 12 months cannot be ruled out. For the current financial year, BHP Billiton's net oil and gas production islikely to be as much as 10 million boe lower than previous guidance.Approximately 4.5 million boe of this is associated with GoM operations, whichassumes loss of production from Typhoon for the balance of the fiscal year.Unplanned outages in Australia account for 1.5 million boe of lower production.The balance relates to our Production Sharing and Risk Sharing Contracts,whereby increasing oil prices reduce the company's production share. Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site: http://www.bhpbilliton.com Australia United KingdomJane Belcher, Investor Relations Mark Lidiard, Investor & Media RelationsTel: +61 3 9609 3952 Mobile: +61 417 031 653 Tel: +44 20 7802 4156 Mobile: +44 7769 934 942email: [email protected] email: [email protected] Tania Price, Media Relations Ariane Gentil, Media RelationsTel: +61 3 9609 3815 Mobile: +61 419 152 780 Tel: +44 20 7802 4177 Mobile: +44 7881 518 715email: [email protected] email: [email protected] United States South AfricaTracey Whitehead, Investor & Media Relations Michael Campbell, Investor & Media RelationsTel: +1 713 599 6100 or +44 20 7802 4031 Tel: +27 11 376 3360 Mobile: +27 82 458 2587Mobile: +44 7917 648 093 email: [email protected]: [email protected] BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077 BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209Registered in Australia Registered in England and WalesRegistered Office: Level 27, 180 Lonsdale Street Melbourne Registered Office: Neathouse Place London SW1V 1BH UnitedVictoria 3000 KingdomTelephone +61 1300 554 757 Facsimile +61 3 9609 3015 Telephone +44 20 7802 4000 Facsimile +44 20 7802 4111 The BHP Billiton Group is headquartered in Australia This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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