BHP Billiton said on Monday it will spend $900 million, or 18% of its capital budget, in exploration next financial year.
Petroleum exploration will focus on deepwater basins in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and the Northern Beagle basin, off the coast of Western Australia, the company’s head of geoscience, Laura Tyler, said.
The mining giant also said it would target greenfield coopper deposits for exploration in Chile, Peru, the United States, Canada and South Australia.
BHP last week announced it would cut costs by 16% in the coming year, and boost coal output by 8% in the three years to June 2018.