The Australian oil and gas giant’s new petroleum boss, Mike Yeager, yesterday told investors the beleaguered project probably would not have an impact on the company’s earnings in the second quarter.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf of Mexico last year slowed work on the $US1.12 billion ($A1.4 billion) BHPB-operated project, in which the Melbourne-based company has a 44% interest.

Atlantis, the company’s biggest US oil project, is projected to have the capacity to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day and 180 million cubic feet of gas per day.

BHPB’s forecast in July of flat petroleum production for fiscal 2007 was based on the Gulf of Mexico development, which had its costs blow-out by at least 30%, producing first oil in the first quarter of 2007.

Yeagher said it is now more likely to be at the very end of the first half.

“I’d say we would be very near the end of that, and there will be very little impact from Atlantis in fiscal 2007,” he said.

Yeager, who was appointed in April, also said BHPB’s oil and gas production in the fiscal first quarter was “very close” to the fourth quarter rate of 336,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

He said the company would use the extra time from weather delays and technical difficulties to “drill a few more wells” and achieve a quicker build-up in production.

Yeager also told investors BHPB plans to spend 20% more to develop the fifth liquefaction processing train at the Woodside Petroleum-operated North West Shelf project to boost production.

Initial production there is scheduled for late 2008, he said.