BHP Billiton first oil production from Stybarrow

BHP Billiton has announced first oil production from its operated Stybarrow project offshore north west Australia. The Stybarrow project involves a nine well subsea development and a Floating Production Storage and Offtake (FPSO) facility, the Stybarrow Venture with capacity of approximately 80,000 barrels of oil a day.

At a water depth of approximately 825 metres, the development is located in production licence block number WA-32-L in the Exmouth Sub-basin, approximately 65 kilometres from Exmouth.

Project costs for Stybarrow are approximately US$760 million, of which BHP Billiton’s share is 50% (approximately US$380 million).

First oil for the Stybarrow Venture, a disconnectable, double-hulled vessel, comes from the Eskdale field, which is a single well tie back to the adjacent large Stybarrow field followed by production from Stybarrow’s wells. Full ramp-up and production is expected to take several months.