UK oil firm, PetroVietnam to look for oil off Mekong Basin
The UK-based oil and gas firm Salamander Energy Group Ltd has tied up with state-run giant PetroVietnam to explore for oil off the Mekong Delta coast.
Under a production-sharing contract signed Friday the Southeast Asia-focused British oil firm and PetroVietnam will begin by drilling in Block 1.
The block covers 8,289 sq.km along the coast of three provinces – Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, and Tra Vinh.
Salamander Energy plans to invest US$5.8 million for exploration in the next three years.
If oil is struck the two parties will decide sharing terms in each well in the block.
The contract marks PetroVietnam’s first with a foreign partner in the Mekong area and its 58th overall.
Salamander Energy plans to open an office in Vietnam this year to strengthen local operations and seek new business opportunities.
In related news, a 50:50 venture between PetroVietnam and Malaysian oil firm Petronas has announced the discovery of oil in Vietnam’s southern waters.
Tests in the Dong Do-1X well in the Dong Do structure, Block 02/97, Cuu Long Basin, show an oil flow of 2,500 barrels per day.
The JV had announce last month it found oil and gas in the Thang Long-2X well in the same block with an estimated yield of 5,000 barrels and 38 million cu.m per day.
Vietnam is expected to produce 16.8 million tons of crude oil this year against an initial target of 17.5 million tons.
Over 7.6 million tons of crude oil were exported for $3.8 billion as the country’s number one export turnover earner dropped slightly both in volume and value.
The lower output was due to certain factors like less-than-expected progress in buying an oil field in Kazakhstan and drilling in Malaysia being hit by bad weather, according to the oil group.
The country exported 16.6 million tons of crude oil valued at over US$8.3 billion last year, mainly to China, Singapore, Japan, Britain, and the US.
Vietnam is Southeast Asia's third-largest crude oil producer with output averaging 350,000 barrels per day. But it still imports most of its oil products in the absence of major refineries.
It is building its first refinery, the $2.5 billion Dung Quat complex in Quang Ngai Province, which will open in early 2009, expected to reduce the country’s heavy dependence on oil imports.
And works also started on certain components of the Nghi Son oil refinery in Thanh Hoa province – the country’s second, which is expected to cost up $5.2 billion. It’s slated to become operational in 2013.
Source: PR – Compiled by Dong Ha
