Australia okays new Timor oil project
Australia okays new Timor oil project
SYDNEY (AFP): The Australian government gave the go-ahead yesterday for a one billion Australian dollar (US$760 million) oil development project in the Timor Sea.
The government granted a license to Woodside Petroleum Ltd. to develop along with two joint venture partners two areas of oil fields known as Laminaria and Corallina with total development costs of around A$1.08 billion.
Woodside will hold a 50 percent stake and its partners, BHP Petroleum and Shell Development (Australia Pty. Ltd.) will each hold a 25 percent share in the venture.
Production on what is claimed will be the world's biggest offshore production site is expected to begin in early 1999.
The adjacent fields, which hold reserves estimated at up to 250 million barrels, lie about 550 kilometers (343 miles) northwest of Darwin, in an area administered by the Northern Territory government on behalf of Canberra.
Announcing the move, Resources Minister Warwick Parer told reporters: "One of the great benefits of this production license is it will encourage more exploration and development in Australia.
"Compared with most other provinces around the world, Australia is grossly unexplored in regard to oil and this sort of thing will give a great impetus to that exploration."
"It will improve our balance of payments by about A$1.8 billion a year, which is equivalent to one month's current account deficit, so this is good news from the point of view of foreign debt," Parer said.
"From Australia's point of view it's a major project." Australia, currently 75 percent self-sufficient in oil, will have its self-sufficiency boosted by up to 20 percent when production starts, Parer said.
Woodside managing director John Akehurst said that with water depths of 360-to-420 meters (1200 to 1360 feet), the facility at Laminaria would be Australia's deepest offshore production site and the world's largest.
He said Woodside was committed to the Timor Sea program and had an active exploration program underway to follow up on the Laminaria and Corallina projects.
"We are committing to additional capital investment ... to create the infrastructure for early production from future discoveries which are hoped for in the area," he said in a statement.