EnQuest widens its Southeast Asian horizons with more oil & gas assets

EnQuest, a London Stock Exchange-listed energy firm, has expanded its oil and gas footprint with the acquisition of Harbour Energy’s Vietnam business, which consists of three producing oil and gas fields. This sale marks a country exit from Vietnam for the latter as it continues to actively manage its portfolio to ensure its capital and resources are deployed in line with its strategy.

Given the increase in deepwater exploration in the hydrocarbon-rich South China Sea, which is driving projects that seek to replace the production from mature offshore fields, EnQuest believes that Vietnam has significant potential for oil and gas development beyond its established 4.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) reserves.

As Vietnam is investing in infrastructure to support oil and gas production, including offshore drilling rigs, pipelines, refineries, and storage facilities, the British player describes the development of these facilities as vital for enhancing production capacity and ensuring the country’s energy security.

The company sees a significant opportunity for late-life asset managers to acquire producing assets as established operators have production sharing contracts (PSCs) nearing their end dates. With this in mind, EnQuest has wrapped up the acquisition of Harbour Energy’s business in Vietnam, which entails a 53.125% equity interest and operatorship of the Chim Sáo and Dua production fields in Block 12W.

According to the company, net 2P reserves and 2C resources across the fields on January 1, 2025, totaled 7.5 million boe and 4.9 million boe, respectively. As a result, the completion is said to confirm the UK player as the assets’ operator, representing another key step in delivering the firm’s diversified growth across Southeast Asia.

Commenting on the acquisition, Amjad Bseisu, EnQuest’s Chief Executive Officer, remarked: “South East Asia is key to EnQuest’s growth and diversification strategy, and we are excited by the opportunity to utilise our proven operating expertise to optimise, enhance and extend the Block 12W assets in Vietnam.

“We are impressed with the talent and attitude displayed by our new colleagues as we welcome the Vietnam asset team into the Group, and we are committed to working with our partners, Bitexco and PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation Ltd, to explore future value-accretive opportunities within the fields.”

The latest acquisition is perceived to align with the company’s strategic aim to expand its operating footprint by investing in fast-payback assets that come with low capex and reduced carbon intensity. While the headline value of the transaction is $85.1 million net of interim period cash flows generated since the effective date of January 1, 2024, the consideration paid by EnQuest was around $25.7 million. 

This transaction involves the firm’s acquisition of the 28.125% equity share held by Premier Oil Vietnam Offshore (POVO) and the 25% share held by Premier Oil Vietnam Limited (POVL). Thanks to this, EnQuest will be the field operator, with non-operator joint venture partners: Bitexco (31.875%) and PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (15%).

The UK player intends to assess additional Block 12W prospectivity and deploy its late-life and FPSO asset management expertise to maximize value and translate discovered resources into reserves at the fields, which are spread across three gas discoveries and several additional targets, to extend the PSCs beyond the current end date of November 2030. 

Moreover, the Vietnam asset team has finished a planned annual maintenance shutdown on time and within budget and executed three of six scheduled well intervention scopes, which have added 1,200 boepd of gross production since the sale deal was signed. EnQuest explains that net asset production in the first half of 2025 averaged 5.7 kboepd, with the potential for further in-year upside.  

Block 12W is made up of three producing oil and gas fields: Chim Sáo, Chim Sáo North West (CSNW), and Dua in the Nam Con Son Basin, approximately 400 km southwest of Vung Tau, Vietnam. The first oil field was discovered in 2006, but oil production followed in October 2011.

The Chim Sáo and CSNW fields are developed via a single wellhead platform, with oil production exported via the FPSO Lewek Emas, and gas exported by pipeline to Vung Tau near Ho Chi Minh City.

The UK firm elaborates that Chim Sáo currently has 14 active oil producers and seven water injectors, CSNW is developed via a single injector and producer pair, and the Dua oil and gas field was subsequently developed as a subsea tie-back to Chim Sáo, with first production achieved in July 2014 via three subsea oil producers.

EnQuest emphasized: “Robust operational performance and the resulting free cash flow underpin Chim Sáo and Dua’s value, making them strong anchor assets for EnQuest’s entry into Vietnam.

“Alongside the recent successful award of PSCs in Indonesia, the Group continues to expand its South East Asian footprint beyond Malaysia, where EnQuest recently celebrated ten years of successful operations and was named Operator of the Year by Petronas for a second successive year.”

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