据美国商业资讯德州斯普林12月12日消息，埃克森美孚今天表示，公司已做出最终投资决定开发巴斯海峡West Barracouta天然气田，从而将为澳大利亚国内市场带来新的天然气供应。该项目位于维多利亚近海VIC/L1区块，是该公司在吉普斯兰盆地持续投资的一部分。
埃克森美孚最近完成了该项目的前端工程设计工作，该项目是埃索-必和必拓吉普斯兰盆地合资企业的一部分。公司已将合同授予了Subsea 7和斯伦贝谢旗下one ubsea公司。该项目将与巴斯海峡现有的Barracouta基础设施连接，这是澳大利亚发现的第一个近海天然气田。
埃克森美孚开采公司总裁Neil W. Duffin表示：“我们继续使用先进技术，以及我们对吉普斯兰盆地长达数十年的广泛了解，以确保该资源的全部潜力能够实现。我们的目标是到2021年为澳大利亚国内天然气市场生产West Barracouta天然气。”
吉普斯兰盆地合资企业继续供应澳大利亚东海岸约40%的国内天然气需求。
这个新项目建立在吉普斯兰盆地合资企业投资40多亿美元(55亿澳元)的基础上，该合资企业最近在维多利亚州投资了其他项目，以满足澳大利亚国内天然气需求，其中包括Kipper Tuna Turrum近海项目和Longford天然气调节工厂。
埃克森美孚澳大利亚公司总裁Richard Owen表示：“吉普斯兰盆地合资企业在巴斯海峡有50年的经验。自1965年第一口巴斯海峡油井钻探以来，已经生产了大约40亿桶原油和8万亿立方英尺天然气。”
埃克森美孚子公司埃索澳大利亚公司代表与必和必拓石油巴斯海峡公司各持股50%的合资企业运营着吉普斯兰盆地合资企业。
唐绍红 摘译自 商业资讯
原文如下：
ExxonMobil Makes Final Investment Decision to Develop West Barracouta Gas Project
ExxonMobil said today that it has made a final investment decision to develop the West Barracouta gas field in Bass Strait to bring new gas supplies to the Australian domestic market. The project, located in the VIC/L1 block offshore Victoria, is part of the company's continuing investment in the Gippsland Basin.
The company recently completed front-end engineering design work for the project, which is part of the Esso-BHP Gippsland Basin Joint Venture, and awarded contracts to Subsea 7 and "We continue to use advanced technology, along with our extensive, decades-long understanding of the Gippsland Basin, to ensure full potential of the resource can be realized," said Neil W. Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Production Company. "Our objective is to produce West Barracouta gas for the Australian domestic gas market by 2021."
The Gippsland Basin Joint Venture continues to supply about 40 percent of east coast Australian domestic gas demand.
The new project builds "The Gippsland Basin Joint Venture has 50 years of experience in Bass Strait," said Richard Owen, chairman ExxonMobil Australia. "Since the first Bass Strait well was drilled in 1965, about four billion barrels of crude oil and eight trillion cubic feet of natural gas have been produced."
ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Australia Pty Ltd operates the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture
