By Ross Kelly
SYDNEY--A discovery made last year by BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU)
and Apache Corp. (APA) off the coast of Western Australia state
could contain around 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas, joint
venture partner Tap Oil Ltd. (TAP.AU) said Tuesday.
Although significant, a resource of this size wouldn't be large
enough to support construction of a standalone liquefied natural
gas, or LNG, export terminal on the coast.
LNG terminals typically require at least 3 trillion-4 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas to be economically viable. The discovery,
however, could be combined with others nearby to support any
developments.
Tap owns 20% of the permit containing the discovery, called
Tallaganda. The exploration well was completed in April by BHP,
which has a 55% stake in the permit. Apache holds the remaining
25%.
Tap said there are a number of other prospects that could be
considered for further drilling to aggregate gas volumes. However,
it said there are currently no plans to drill further wells in the
area during 2013.
Shares in Tap Oil had risen 0.8% by 0117 GMT in Sydney, in line
with the broader market.
Write to Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@wsj.com
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