Kipper gas wins licence Business The Australian

THE partners in the Kipper gas project in Bass Strait have accepted the Victorian Government's offer of a production licence.
But the project may be delayed until conflicts between them and the state Government concerning timing and development options are settled.
ExxonMobil, BHP Billiton and Santos are planning a development expected to cost more than $500 million to bring Kipper gas into the Victorian market as early as 2009.
In April, Victorian Energy Minister Theo Theophanous said the Kipper field had the potential to provide gas to a million Victorians for 15 years.
"The massive Kipper field will supply Victorians with 620 billion cubic feet of gas," he said. "The production licence for this gas field will ensure that Victorian families will have a steady flow of gas at one of the lowest prices in the world."
The field is also estimated to contain 30 million barrels of condensate and LPG.
The Kipper field is about 45km off Ninety Mile Beach in Gippsland.
Yesterday, ExxonMobil chairman Mark Nolan said the acceptance of a production licence was an important milestone.
"The decision is another important step for the Kipper project towards entering front-end engineering and design and consideration of a final investment decision in 2007."
Mr Nolan said the initial Kipper development concept was based on the installation of a number of subsea wells and associated pipelines with the aim of processing the gas and liquids using existing Esso and BHP Billiton facilities.
Development of Kipper has been on the backburner for many years because of its relatively small size, compared with the giants developed by Esso Australia and BHP in the 1960s.
In May, Woodside sold its interest in the Kipper field to Santos.
Yesterday, The Weekend Australian learned that Victorian authorities were keen for the Kipper partners to develop a small part of the field, estimated to contain fewer than a million barrels.