First oil from Vincent is planned for 2008, with initial production of about 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

The field is near Woodside's Stybarrow and Enfield projects in the Exmouth sub-basin. While Vincent was discovered before both Stybarrow and Enfield, a development plan has taken longer because Vincent's reservior is more difficult.

Enfield is planned to start production later this year and Stybarrow in early 2008, the company said.

The company holds a 60% share in the project, while partner Mitsui E&P Australia holds the remaining 40%. Mitsui has also approved its share of the budget.

Reuters reported that Mitsui told a briefing in Tokyo that the crude oil produced from Vincent would be sweet but heavy, with API gravity of 18. Mitsui said it planned to sell the Vincent crude on the international market, including to Japan.

Located 50km north-west of Exmouth in WA-28-L, Vincent will be developed in several phases and is subject to government approvals. The first phase is expected to cost the partners a total $A1 billion.

Woodside has also established hedging arrangements to protect itself against a drop in global oil prices during the pricing of the deal in the first phase.

This deal covers Woodside’s first 13.5 million bbls of oil over the first three years of production.

Oil will be produced through a sub-sea development and processed and stored in a disconnectable, double-hull floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility to be provided through a service agreement.