BHP, ExxonMobil move ahead with Turrum field development

Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent

MELBOURNE, July 28 -- Melbourne-based BHP Billiton Pty. Ltd. has given the green light to development of Turrum oil and gas field, which lies in the Bass Strait production area off southeast Victoria.

BHP holds a 50% share in the project, which is operated by fellow 50% interest-holder ExxonMobil Corp. BHP has now approved funding for its share of the $1.25 billion full field development.

Production will be channelled through the partnership's existing Gippsland facilities, which comprise offshore pipelines extending to the onshore production facilities at Longford.

BHP says the new facilities for Turrum will consist of a new platform, designated Marlin B, which will be linked by a bridge to the existing Marlin A platform. Since it is one of the original steel structures in the Bass Strait, the Marlin A platform will require an upgrade to accommodate the bridge as well as new equipment.

Turrum is scheduled to come on stream in 2011. For the first 4 years the oil and condensate will be stripped from the production stream and the gas reinjected into the reservoir. Commercial gas sales are expected to begin in 2015 at a rate of 200 MMcfd of gas.

Turrum, which was discovered in the 1970s, lies 42 km offshore in 60 m of water. Reserves are estimated to be 1 tcf of gas and 110 million bbl of oil and condensate.

ExxonMobil says the field will be a key contributor to the estimated 7 tcf of remaining known gas reserves in the Bass Strait—a figure the company says will sustain gas production from its producing area for another 30 years.