Drilling Result

BHP Limited
12 January 2001

Date         12 January 2001       
Number       02/01

BHP ANNOUNCES DRILLING RESULTS
FROM SECOND 'MAD DOG' APPRAISAL WELL

BHP Limited (BHP) today announced further results from the appraisal drilling
programme of Mad Dog, one of its three oil field discoveries in the Atwater
Foldbelt. The Atwater Foldbelt is one of the Company's key exploration plays
in the deep- and ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

The Mad Dog No. 3 appraisal well is located in Green Canyon Block 783 in 4,320
feet of water.  It is located approximately 1.7 miles northeast of Mad Dog No.
2 and approximately 3.7 miles northeast of the original discovery well.  The
purpose of the Mad Dog No. 3 well was to determine the extent of the field to
the northeast.

The well reached a total depth of 21,810 feet, encountering 200 net feet of
hydrocarbon bearing sands.  In addition, the well delineated the extent of the
previously recognized Miocene reservoirs and provided a better understanding
of the structural complexity of the field.

A sidetrack was drilled updip some 4,000 feet to the southwest of the original
borehole into GC Block 782.  Drilled to a total depth of 22,426 feet, it
confirmed the lateral extent and thickness of the hydrocarbon-bearing Miocene
reservoirs penetrated in the original wellbore. 

President BHP Petroleum, Philip Aiken, said:  'The well results provide
further valuable information necessary to progress towards the commercial
development of the Mad Dog field.  Given the added structural complexity of
the field, the need for an additional appraisal well is being determined.  The
interpretation of well data, and the possible additional well, will enable the
resource size to be estimated with greater confidence and to optimise the
nature of the development for the field.'

The Mad Dog accumulation is located inside a unit that was expanded to eight
blocks in April 2000.  It comprises GC 825, GC 826, GC 738, GC 739, GC 781, GC
782 (the northern half of the block was added to the original prospect area
that included the southern half), and GC 783.  The Mad Dog discovery well was
completed in December 1998 in GC 826 and encountered 300 net feet of
hydrocarbons.  Mad Dog No. 2 encountered 265 net feet of oil pay.  

Mad Dog is located approximately 15 miles southwest of the Company's Atlantis
discovery (GC 699), where a second appraisal well is expected to spud later
this year.

BHP has a 23.9 percent working interest in Mad Dog with partners BP (the
operator with a 60.5 percent interest) and Unocal, which has a 15.6 percent
interest.

BHP has interests in a total of 128 blocks in the Atwater Foldbelt trend, and
a total of 226 leasehold positions in the deepwater or ultra-deepwater Gulf of
Mexico, making it an important component of BHP's focussed exploration
strategy.


Further information can be found on our Internet site: http://www.bhp.com 

Media Relations:                            
       
Mandy Frostick                            
Manager Media Relations                      
BHP Ltd.
Ph:   61 3 9609 4157                     
Mob:  [phone]                                    


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