25-07-08 ExxonMobil and BHP Billiton, partners in the Gippsland Basin oil and gas venture in Australia, approved spending about A$ 1.4 bn ($ 1.3 bn) on a project off the southeast coast to meet rising demand.
Construction of the Turrum field will start next year, allowing oil production to start up in 2011, followed by gas sales in 2015, Exxon's Australian unit said.

Turrum holds about 1 tcf of gas and 100 mm barrels of oil and gas liquids, enough energy to power a city of a million people for 20 years. The project, which will have a life of about two decades, will help meet Australian gas demand that is set to rise by 3.8 % a year through 2030, Exxon estimates.
"Turrum is our next exciting project,'' Mark Nolan, ExxonMobil Australia chairman, told. "Turrum is one of the largest gas developments to be brought online in the history'' of the Gippsland Basin venture, he said.

BHP, which has a 50 % stake in the venture, said separately to the Australian stock exchange that it approved spending of $ 625 mm on Turrum.
The project will assist energy security in south-eastern Australia, Victorian Premier John Brumby said.