PERTH, Australia, April 8 (UPI) -- Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd.'s profitable petroleum division will remain a primary focus for the company.
The company said the petroleum division had the highest margin within BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton Petroleum Chief Executive Michael Yeager said his division accounts for 20 percent to 25 percent of BHP's earnings.
Production at BHP Billiton's Neptune oil project in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to start up this quarter, Yeager said. The project is expected to produce about 50,000 barrels of oil a day.
Production was previously scheduled for the first quarter of this year, but last month BHP was forced to evacuate all workers from the Neptune platform after structural anomalies were discovered in the hull, The Age reported.
Yeager said BHP Billiton's liquefied natural gas projects in Western Australia were becoming increasingly viable, including its 50 percent-held offshore Scarborough project. The other half is held by ExxonMobil.
The petroleum division will spend $700 million on exploration this year, up from $350 million a year for the past five years. Yeager said the increased spending is largely due to higher production costs. Rigs are about $600,000 a day, up from $200,000 per day five years ago.
