Melbourne/Hong Kong — BHP will target higher oil output and can accelerate development of growth projects in other key commodities after using stronger profits to cut debt and reward investors. The world’s biggest miner has nine major projects under way and is spending almost $1bn in 2018 on exploration, CEO Andrew Mackenzie said on Tuesday. Capital expenditure is forecast by the company to rise by as much as 18% to $8bn in 2018. Even after trimming debt and lifting returns, "there has been money left over to grow the company in the future, and there’s lots more to come", Mackenzie said after BHP reported full-year underlying profit jumped 33% to a four- year high. "We have a cupboard full of options for the short, medium and long term in all of our commodities," he said. Rio Tinto and Anglo American are advancing new projects and expansions as the sector begins to embrace growth. Anglo has approved a $5bn copper mine in Peru. Rio is building a bauxite mine in Australia and leading ...
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