Exxon Looking at Australian Hydrocarbons

By Ben Sharples

April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp., operator of the Gippsland Basin oil and gas venture in southeastern Australia with BHP Billiton Ltd., said it’s evaluating a discovery in the Bass Strait.
Drilling encountered oil and gas at the South East Remora-1 well, 35 kilometers (22 miles) off the coast of Victoria state, Exxon’s Australian unit said in an e-mailed statement today. The discovery is near the Marlin A platform, Melbourne-based spokeswoman Rebecca Arnold said by telephone.
The Gippsland Basin venture, which includes 21 offshore platforms in the Bass Strait, has produced nearly 63 percent of Australia’s cumulative oil output since 1969, according to Exxon’s Web site. Exxon is analyzing the drilling results to determine flow rates and volumes at the well, Arnold said.
“Combining innovative ideas and new technology with in- depth knowledge and experience, we have been able to significantly extend the life of the existing Bass Strait fields, and to find and produce oil and gas from new locations,” John Dashwood, chairman of Exxon’s Australian unit, said in the statement.
The South East Remora-1 well was drilled in 57 meters of water to a total depth of 3,602 meters below sea level, Exxon said. “Decades” of oil and gas production remain in the Gippsland Basin, Irving, Texas-based Exxon said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 21, 2010 21:56 EDT