Broken Hill Proprietary Co Ld
8 February 2000
Further Successful Gulf of Mexico Drilling Results
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited announced today the results of its
first appraisal well on the Mad Dog discovery located in the Atwater Foldbelt
in the ultra deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.
The appraisal well, located in Green Canyon Block 782 in 4420 feet of water,
reached a total depth of 20,268 feet and encountered 265 net feet of oil pay.
Fluid samples were taken and 140 feet of core was recovered from the well.
A sidetrack from the original well location was drilled to a total depth of
21,560 feet and the results are under evaluation.
The appraisal well is located 1000 feet inside the northern boundary of a two
and one half block unit comprising Blocks GC 825,826, and the southern half of
782 with equity interests BP Amoco (operator 63.56%) BHP (11.44%) and Unocal
(25%). BHP also has a 44% interest partnership with BP Amoco (56%) in four
and one half blocks (GC 738,739,781,783 and the northern half of 782 ) which
are adjacent and contiguous with the drilled unit, and into which a
significant part of the Mad Dog structure extends.
The results of the well are being evaluated and it is likely that a further
appraisal well will be drilled by BHP and BP Amoco outside the two and one
half block unit in the near future.
This second well on the Mad Dog discovery has been drilled two miles to the
north of the discovery well (GC 826-1), completed in December 1998, and which
encountered 300 net feet of hydrocarbons.
Mad Dog is an important discovery and one of three BHP/BP Amoco discoveries in
the Atwater Foldbelt. Neptune was discovered in 1995 (BHP 42.5%) and lies 32
miles to the north east of Mad Dog in 6,200 feet of water. Atlantis (BHP 44%)
was discovered in 1998 and is located between Neptune and Mad Dog in 4,400
feet of water. The significance of these discoveries is under assessment and
an appraisal well at Atlantis is scheduled for later this year.
BHP has interests in a total of 128 blocks in the Atwater Foldbelt trend
making it an important component of BHP's focussed deepwater exploration
strategy.
Mr Philip Aiken, President of BHP Petroleum said that the encouraging results
of the Mad Dog appraisal well give continued stimulus to BHP's focussed
deepwater exploration strategy and represent a further important step in
delivering value from the area.
For clarification please contact:
Media Inquiries: Investment Inquiries:
Dr Malcolm Garratt Dr Robert Porter
Group Manager External Affairs Vice President - Investor Relations Melb
BHP Petroleum Melbourne Phone: +61 3 9609 3540
Phone: +61 3 9652 6872 Mobile:+61 419 587 456
Mobile: +61 419 582 255
*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
Please note, this site uses cookies. Some of the cookies are essential for parts of the site to operate and have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but if you do, parts of the site may not work. To find out more about the cookies used on Investegate and how you can manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy
To continue using Investegate, please confirm that you are a private investor as well as agreeing to our Privacy and Cookie Policy & Terms.