"According to U.K.-based consultancy Wood Mackenzie, there are recoverable reserves of more than 5 billion barrels of oil and more than 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Gippsland Basin."
"According to the sales flyer, the Basker-Manta-Gummy project has an estimated resource of more than 200 billion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 15 million barrels of oil. Developing this resource will require investment of up to US$700 million, it says."
Hard to justify US$700 million in isolation Id suggest, but if they could secure VIC/P41 and VIC/P68,the investment would be more cost effective.
Interestingly Esso and BHP are spending circa $4.5 billion on their development with Kipper due to come on line on 2016.
Exxon and BHP's 50-50 Gippsland Basin joint venture has produced more petroleum than anyone else in the nation, and their sheer size means their activities in Bass Strait are largely kept private.
The resources giants do not have to report gas reserves or the results of exploration wells.
But with many searching for a solution to a looming gas crisis, Exxon has given a rare insight into the extent of its reserves.
The energy giant has revealed that the seven trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas it has long said it believes remains in its leases in Bass Strait is not a reserve or resource figure. In fact, some of it has not yet been discovered. And the gas is expected to be high in contaminants and expensive to extract.
The potential costs of Bass Strait gas developments have been highlighted by the current expansion of Kipper Tuna Turrum, where the budget has blown out by more than $1.3 billion to $5.5bn. The cost includes a $1.1bn onshore plant approved last year to strip out the high levels of carbon dioxide from the gas.
The Victorian government's Gas Market Taskforce report, released last month, said that without the benefits of higher-value oil in the Kipper field, the long-term production cost of gas there is $9.50 per gigajoule.
