The Atlantis-6 well, 44% owned by BHPB, encountered hydrocarbons in several zones, including an impressive 140m of net oil pay in one zone and 61m of net gas pay in another.
Before the drilling, BHPB estimated gross proven and probable reserves at Atlantis were 635 million barrels of oil equivalent. BHPB petroleum chief, Phillip Aiken, said the positive drilling results will force an upward revision of this figure.
Coinciding with good drilling result, the company has committed a further $US745 million to commercialise the Atlantis field. This comes on top of the $US355 million approved last May to fund engineering costs and long-lead time items.
Atlantis is believed to be the third largest field yet discovered in the Gulf and will be developed using a moored semi-submersible production facility with a capacity of 150,000 barrels of oil per day and 180 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. First oil is scheduled to come on the market in the third quarter of 2006.
