BHP's petroleum president Tim Cutt revealed the company's hopes for the sub-basin, which lies on trend with the Barrow sub-basin, during a speech at he Barclays Energy-Power Conference in New York.
“Our mega-regional evaluation of WA highlighted the potential for a largely untested Tier 1 liquids (oil) play in the Beagle sub-basin,’’ he said.
Cutt told delegates BHP had identified four leads in the sub-basin which each had the potential to hold more than 400 million barrels of recoverable oil.
He added that the company was hoping to spud the first prospect in 2018.
West Australia's Minister for Mines & Petroleum, Bill Marmion, said Cutt's comments showed the state still had the potential for large greenfield discoveries.
"On the back of last year's exciting Phoenix...
