The company said that the wells will be drilled and brought on in phases, with approximately half the field ramping up from first oil and the other half over the next six months.
Michael Yeager, chief executive of BHP Billiton Petroleum, said: “The Pyrenees project is a very technically challenging development that has been executed extremely well and will make a significant contribution to Petroleum’s worldwide operations and production volumes.
“Given the complexity of the project, the early start-up of Pyrenees is an outstanding achievement and another major accomplishment from our project development and drilling organizations.”
In July 2007, BHP Billiton and joint venture partner Apache had sanctioned the WA-42-L portion of the Pyrenees development at a cost of approximately $1.7bn. When sanctioned, first production was planned during the first half of calendar year 2010. The project has an estimated production life of 25 years.
The Pyrenees project is located approximately 45km (27 miles) off the coast of Exmouth, Western Australia, and approximately 20km (12 miles) east from BHP Billiton’s operated Stybarrow development.
The Pyrenees project consists of the development of the Crosby, Ravensworth and Stickle oil fields, which were discovered in 2003 at water depths ranging from 169mt (555ft) to 250mt (820ft). The fields are developed with very long horizontal wells drilled from the sea floor and then tied back to the Pyrenees FPSO via an extensive gathering system. Water injection is incorporated to enhance oil recovery.
The company added that the Pyrenees FPSO is a double-hulled vessel with a disconnectable turret mooring system. The gas produced by the development will be reinjected into the reservoir of the nearby Macedon gas field for future recovery.
The project is located in production license area WA-42-L. The joint venture partners are BHP Billiton (71.43% and operator) and Apache Corporation (28.57%).
Part of the Ravensworth field is located in production license WA-43-L where BHP Billiton, Operator, holds 39.999%. The joint venture partners in WA-43-L are Apache (31.501%) and Inpex (28.5%). This separate segment of the Pyrenees project will have its own wells and gathering system.
According to the company, a commercial arrangement has been made between the WA-42-L and WA-43-L Joint Ventures, whereby oil from production license WA-43-L will be produced into the WA-42-L owned facility via a tie-in agreement. The production from the WA-43-L areas will commence later in 2010 calendar year.
