Oil Discovery Chinook E-Well

BHP Billiton Limited
30 June 2003

     BHP Billiton Limited is issuing this announcement to fulfil disclosure
  obligations arising from its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

    The text of this release is identical to that issued by BHP Billiton Plc
                                    earlier.


Date                 30 June 2003
Number               23/03


 BHP BILLITON ANNOUNCES OIL DISCOVERY WITH CHINOOK E-WELL IN DEEPWATER GULF OF
                                     MEXICO


BHP Billiton today announced that it has made an oil discovery at its second
exploratory well on the Chinook prospect in the ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
Drilled in water depths of approximately 8,830 feet (2,684 meters), the well
exceeded a total depth of 27,650 feet (8,406 meters), encountering a gross
hydrocarbon column of 620 feet (188 meters) with 260 feet (79 meters) of net oil
pay.

The Chinook discovery is located more than 300 kilometers (180 miles) from the
Louisiana coast in Walker Ridge Block 469, approximately 30 kilometers (19
miles) south of the previously announced Cascade discovery.

Steve Bell, President of Exploration and Business Development for BHP Billiton
Petroleum, said today: 'This is a very encouraging result on a large structure.
Of course, it is early days and the result must be seen in perspective. While
this is the deepest penetration to date on Chinook, we must have more appraisal
data before we can be definitive about the scale of resource. Importantly, this
strengthens our inventory of BHP Billiton-operated discoveries in the area. With
Shenzi, Cascade, Neptune, and Vortex, we have a full appraisal programme in
place to evaluate and, if successful, create more value by ultimately
commercialising these hydrocarbon accumulations.'

Drilling on Chinook-3 began January 13, 2003, using the BHP Billiton operated
drillship C.R. Luigs. BHP Billiton owns a 40 percent interest and is the
designated operator of Chinook with Petrobras owning a 30 percent interest, and
Total and Amerada Hess each holding a 15 percent interest.

BHP Billiton holds interests in more than 340 blocks in the Gulf of Mexico,
where the company is actively exploring for oil and gas. Deepwater projects
sanctioned for development include the Atlantis and Mad Dog oil and gas fields,
in addition to producing assets at Typhoon and Boris. In the past year the
company has announced discoveries at Cascade, Shenzi, and Vortex, all of which
are located in deep- and ultra-deepwater blocks.


Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site: http://
www.bhpbilliton.com


Australia                                                     United Kingdom
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Tania Price, Media Relations                                  Ariane Gentil, Media Relations
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Francis McAllister, Investor Relations                        Michael Campbell, Investor & Media Relations
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