All oil production from the field is being sold to

the BP Kwinana refinery.

The facility will unload and process up to 15,000 barrels of heavy sweet crude oil per day when field production peaks in about 18 months time.

Cliff Head, which is operated by Roc Oil, will provide about 10% of all the crude oil BP uses to manufacture liquefied petroleum gas, petrol, diesel, aviation and marine fuels, as well as bitumen, for use in Western Australia.

The field will produce about 14 million barrels of crude over its 10-15 year lifespan and generate about $A1.2 billion in revenue. This will initially peak at about $A300 million per year.

State minister for resources John Bowler officially opened the facility during a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning.

“There’s no doubt Western Australia needs more of these facilities and more discoveries like Cliff Head,” Bowler said.

“We’re fighting a losing battle with oil imports and this facility makes future discoveries [in the offshore Perth Basin] economically viable.”

BP’s Kwinana oil refinery managing director Thys Heyns said all production from Cliff Head – the offshore Perth Basin’s first commercial discovery – was being sold to BP. Without the new facility, the Kwinana refinery would not have been able to cope with the increased oil deliveries, he said.

“This facility will unload about 15,000 barrels of oil from about 30 trucks every day – that’s more than one every hour,” Herns said.

“The whole refinery receives 135,000 barrels per day, so this new facility will take up a fairly sizeable portion of that amount.”

He said BP believed the facility would cater for all anticipated future volumes from the Basin. Cliff Head will have priority access, but upon agreement between the Cliff Head joint venture and BP, the facility could be used for other oil deliveries.

The Cliff Head JV comprises Roc Oil, which holds a 37.5% stake, AWE Oil (27.5%), Wandoo Petroleum (24%), Arc Energy (6%) and CIECO Exploration and Production (5%).