Settlement of Hawaii Claim

Broken Hill Proprietary Co Ld
23 November 1999


                   SETTLEMENT OF THE HAWAII ANTITRUST CLAIM                   

The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited (BHP) is pleased to announce that
it has reached a settlement with the State of Hawaii which will result in its
dismissal from the antitrust lawsuit  brought against a number of oil
companies (Hawaii Antitrust Claim.)  The complaint,  filed by the State of
Hawaii in the U.S. District Court and alleging antitrust breaches relating to
the Hawaiian gasoline market by seven major oil companies operating in Hawaii,
was served on the BHP subsidiary (BHP Hawaii Inc) in late 1998.

Until the relevant business was sold in May 1998, BHP Petroleum had an
involvement in petroleum refining and marketing in Hawaii.  The terms of the
sale to Tesoro Petroleum Corporation included certain indemnities from BHP to
Tesoro which are relevant to the Hawaii Antitrust Claim.

BHP remains of the view that it could successfully defend the claim, but the
settlement represents a satisfactory result for the Company in financial terms
and has also removed a distraction from BHP Petroleum core business
activities.  

The settlement is subject to approval in the U.S. District Court in Hawaii.




For clarification please contact:

Media:                        Investment:
              
Dr Malcolm Garratt            Dr Robert Porter
Phone:   [phone]      Phone:   [phone]
Mobile:  [phone]      Mobile:  [phone]