Project pipeline
- Dennis Odgers
Underground Supervisor – Cannington, Australia - Dennis has demonstrated considerable skill, initiative and leadership in his capacity as an underground operator and acting in supervisory positions since he began at Cannington in 2000. Dennis was one of a group of excellent performers who BHP Billiton rewarded with a trip to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games this year.
BHP Billiton has an unparalleled set of growth options. The number of projects that are either in the development or feasibility stage in our project pipeline reflects the significant range of opportunities ready to take us into the next decade.
We have demonstrated our ability to identify and develop both greenfield and brownfield opportunities, with 30 projects completed in the past five years. We continue to aim to deliver projects on time and on budget, notwithstanding the cost and time pressures affecting our industry in today’s high-demand environment.
Our emphasis on developing and implementing leading-edge technology and innovative customer solutions is demonstrated not just across our operations, but in the approval of several new projects, in our customer collaborations and in the development of new products and markets.
Central to BHP Billiton’s success is our competitive ability to plan, prioritise and execute the development of the projects in our pipeline. During the year, seven major growth projects were approved. We now have 23 projects in execution or feasibility phase representing US$13.8 billion of investment. In addition, we are assessing numerous opportunities in readiness for their progression within the pipeline, thereby ensuring a continual flow in the coming years.
Expansion projects on track
Since 2001, through a program of staged expansions, BHP Billiton has increased production at its Western Australian iron ore operations from around 68 million tonnes per annum to 105 million tonnes in 2006. The next phase, Rapid Growth Project 2 (RGP2) was recently completed on time and on budget and RGP3 is under way with construction activities progressing well. Looking further afield, RGP4 is in feasibility phase. This will take us to a nominal 152 million tonnes per annum. These projects build on our outstanding track record of bringing new production capacity online and ensure that we continue to meet our customers’ needs over the coming decades.
Petroleum projects move to completion
Our pipeline of petroleum development projects is strong. We are expanding our gas plant at Zamzama in Pakistan; Train 5 at Australia’s North West Shelf LNG plant is progressing, as is the new Angel production platform, which will supply gas to the facility; and the Stybarrow development is making strong progress towards commercialising reserves in an increasingly important oil province in Western Australian waters. Construction is under way for production facilities at the Neptune Development, our first operated, stand-alone development in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico; and the first steel has been cut for the Shenzi development, also in the Gulf of Mexico. The Atlantis South Development in the Gulf of Mexico, due to ramp-up in the next 12 months, will be a key feature in terms of our Petroleum volumes. When it ultimately reaches its full capacity, Atlantis will produce in the order of 26 million barrels per year (BHP Billiton share).
Opening the door to future development
The Panda Underground Project at EKATI, the first underground diamond mine in Canada, successfully reached full capacity in February 2006. The project presented many significant and diverse challenges and, by virtue of its success, has resulted in the establishment of solid underground mining capability at EKATI. Completed on time and under budget, project production has exceeded the feasibility study targets to date. Safety performance was also excellent. Indeed, the success of this project has opened the door to future underground development work at EKATI.