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Premier Oil says drilling off Vietnam shows signs of crude, gas
Drilling off Vietnam in an area freed for exploration by an agreement on sea boundaries with Indonesia shows signs of oil and gas and the existence of a “working petroleum system,” Premier Oil Plc said Wednesday.
The Ca Rong Do well has reached a total depth of 3,810 meters after drilling began last month, Premier said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange. Partners in the field include Vietnam American Exploration Co.; a unit of Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Co.; and Pan Pacific Petroleum NL.
The well, drilled in an area where Vietnam and Indonesia in 2003 concluded a quarter-century of negotiations by delineating their continental shelf boundary, encountered “oil and gas shows,” Premier said in its statement. Vietnam is ramping up exploration in a bid to reverse a four-year drop in oil output.
“The presence of oil and gas shows on Block 07/03 is an indication that a working petroleum system exists in this part of offshore Vietnam,” Phil MacLaurin, Vietnam country manager for Premier, said in a telephone interview Thursday. “We had models before saying that that should be the case, but without any drilling, you don’t know for sure.”
The prospect targeted by the Ca Rong Do well is potentially 80 million barrels, Pan Pacific Petroleum said May 29. Block 07/03 is alongside an area known as Block 06/94, where minority partner Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd. said this week that drilling operations on a well began June 1.
Vietnamese oil production rose 23 percent through May to 6.95 million tons, based on preliminary figures from the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. The figure equates to about 345,000 barrels a day, based on conversion figures provided by Vietnam Oil & Gas Group, known as PetroVietnam.
Vietnam may be able to produce an average of about 400,000 barrels of oil a day until at least 2030, the US Energy Information Administration said last month. Vietnam’s peak production level was 427,000 barrels a day in 2004, according to figures from BP Plc.
thanhnien, bloomberg
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