During the September 2019 quarter, the BHP Board approved an investment of US$283 million (BHP share) for the development of the Ruby oil and gas project in Trinidad and Tobago.

At the end of the September 2019 quarter, BHP had six major projects under development in petroleum, copper, iron ore and potash, with a combined budget of US$11.4 billion over the life of the projects.

The Jansen Stage 1 potash project in Canada will be presented to the Board for final investment decision by February 2021. In order to make a final investment decision, work on engineering to support project planning and on finalising the port solution is required, and the Board has approved US$144 million for these activities. An additional US$201 million in funding was approved to further derisk the project, focussing on the mine’s scope of work, advancing other engineering and procurement activities, and preparation works for underground infrastructure. This will enable an efficient transition of the project team between the study and execution phase, should the project be approved. The release of funding to the project will be staged over this period.

Petroleum

Total petroleum production decreased by 11 per cent to 29 MMboe. Guidance for the 2020 financial year remains unchanged at between 110 and 116 MMboe.

Crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids production declined by 11 per cent to 13 MMboe due to the impact of Tropical Storm Barry in the Gulf of Mexico and natural field decline across the portfolio. This decline was partially offset by higher uptime at Pyrenees following the 70 day dry dock maintenance during the same period last year.

Natural gas production decreased by 11 per cent to 100 bcf, reflecting a decrease in tax barrels at Trinidad and Tobago in accordance with the terms of the company's Production Sharing Contract, planned maintenance at North West Shelf and natural field decline across the portfolio.

Operations

In Mexico, BHP spud the Trion 3-DEL appraisal well on 9 July 2019. The company are encouraged by the preliminary results, with the well encountering oil in the reservoirs up dip from all previous well intersections. Evaluation and analysis is ongoing. No further appraisal wells are anticipated.

In Trinidad and Tobago, BHP drilled two additional exploration wells in their Northern licences as a part of Phase 4 of their deepwater drilling campaign. The Boom-1 well was spud on 28 August 2019 and encountered hydrocarbons. Evaluation and analysis is ongoing. The Carnival-1 well was spud on 30 September 2019 and reached total depth after the end of the September 2019 quarter. The well was a dry hole. This completed the exploration program on the company's Trinidad and Tobago Northern licences. Evaluation and development planning studies of the discoveries in the North are ongoing. Following Carnival-1, the Deepwater Invictus rig will return to the US Gulf of Mexico to complete regulatory abandonment work on Shenzi appraisal and exploration boreholes.

In the US Gulf of Mexico, in August 2019, BHP were the apparent high bidder on blocks GC124 and GC168 in the central Gulf of Mexico, building on their Green Canyon position. Additionally, BHP were the apparent high bidder on 18 additional blocks, which would expand their position in the western Gulf of Mexico.

In Australia, the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator approved the surrender of the WA-255-P exploration permit, following the company's technical assessment of remaining potential.

Petroleum exploration expenditure for the September 2019 quarter was US$162 million, of which US$69 million was expensed. A US$0.7 billion exploration and appraisal program is being executed for the 2020 financial year.

BHP Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Mackenzie, said: 
“We delivered a solid start to the 2020 financial year through ongoing strong operational performance across our portfolio. While Group production for the quarter decreased slightly due to the expected impacts of planned maintenance and natural field decline in Petroleum, guidance remains unchanged and we are on track to deliver slightly higher volumes than last financial year. The South Flank iron ore project is 50 per cent complete, with all our major projects on schedule and budget. We achieved further encouraging exploration results in Petroleum and at the Oak Dam copper prospect.”

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