Eni and its partners in the Woollybutt joint venture have decided to develop the southern lobe of the Woollybutt oilfield located in the WA-25-L Production Licence in Carnarvon basin off Western Australia in 100m water depth. The Woollybutt South Lobe is located approximately 5 kilometres south of the currently producing Woollybutt North Lobe.

The A$180 million (US$142.3 million) Woollybutt South development will see two horizontal production wells tied back through subsea flexible flowlines to the Four Vanguard FPSO. The wells will be a re-entry of the Woollybutt-4 well, which had confirmed the presence of oil in the southern lobe of the field, and the Woollybutt-6 appraisal well. Drilling is expected to start in the middle of 2007 with first production scheduled to start in early 2008.

JDR Umbilical Systems has been awarded the umbilical supply contract from its Asia Pacific facility in Thailand. Two umbilicals are totalling approximately 9km in length will be tied back to existing subsea facilities. A specialized electric cable, designed by JDR to mitigate against gas permeation into the conductors, will be incorporated into the umbilical.

Woollybutt is currently producing about 11,000 barrels per day of oil. The Woollybutt-4 well is expected to boost production by around 10,000 bpd.

WA-25- L Joint Venture Participants are:

Eni Australia Ltd (Operator) 65%, Tap West Pty Ltd 15%, Mobil Australia Resource Co Pty Ltd 20%.