Australia- and UK-listed resources firm BHP has started oil production at the Ruby oil and gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago. Ruby will have capacity to produce 16,000 b/d of oil and 80mn ft³/d (2.26mn m³/d) of gas at its peak.
Drilling and completion activities at Ruby are ongoing, with subsequent wells to be placed into production in the April-June and July-September quarters of 2021, and project completion is expected by the end of September, BHP said today.
BHP is the operator of Ruby with a 68.46pc interest and the state-controlled National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago owns the remaining 31.54pc, BHP said.
BHP approved funding worth $283mn for its share of the development costs covering the Ruby field in August 2019.
BHP has maintained its production guidance of 95mn-102mn bl of oil equivalent (boe) (260,000-280,000 boe/d) for the 2020-21 fiscal year to 30 June, although it expects total output to be at the higher end of the range. Production for the July-March period was 277,000 boe/d, down by 8pc from 300,000 boe/d during the same period in 2019-20.
