Bass Strait productive for "another 30 years"

Mr Dashwood's comments to the Resources Victoria Conference came as he outlined the engineering challenges faced in exploiting smaller fields.

"When we started production in 1969 we anticipated it would continue for about 25 to 30 years," he said.

"However, 40 years later we are in the midst of a highly successful drilling program and are in the process of bringing two new gas fields on line.

"We are now looking at another 30 years of production."

"In the current program, we have drilled some of the longest and most technically challenging wells ever undertaken," he said.

"Using ExxonMobil’s 'fast drill process', we are doing it faster and more efficiently than in the past.

"Additional technological advancements including 3D seismic surveys, rotary steerable drilling, geosteered horizontal drilling and complex real-time reservoir modelling have greatly enhanced our industry's productivity, delivered massive growth of recoverable resources in known fields and allowed previously uneconomic finds to be developed."