SOCO Continues Operations in Vietnam and Congo

SOCO, an international oil and gas exploration and production company, has released an update on its operations.

Concerning Vietnamese operations, SOCO announces that the first well drilled in the H5 fault block of the Te Giac Trang field, the TGT-10X exploration well, has encountered approximately 117 metres of net pay section (circa 250 metres gross pay) having reached 4,226 metres Measured Depth (“MD”). The well has drilled into the Oligocene D2 section.

Higher formation pressure than predicted has required higher than expected mud weights and consequently a liner will now be run over the Miocene and Oligocene reservoir horizons. Consideration is being given to drilling the remainder of the well using a 6″ bit to reach the target total depth of approximately 4,430 metres MD. This will be done upon the completion of the current downhole logging operations which will establish the reservoir parameters to assist the design of the flow testing programme for the Miocene and Oligocene horizons.

The well is located approximately six kilometres south of the H4 Well Head Platform, in the southern part of Block 16-1’s TGT Field in the Cuu Long Basin off the southern coast of Vietnam.

SOCO announces that the exploration well on the Lideka East Marine prospect, the LDKEM-1 well, Republic of Congo, spudded on 20th July 2013. The well will test the potential of a post-salt structure of the Sendji Formation in the Lower Congo Basin, offshore Pointe Noire, in the Marine XI license which is updip from the 2009 Lideka Marine-1 well where oil shows were observed. The Sendji Formation is in a four way structural dip closure at the well location. Additionally, the lower part of the Tchala Formation is in structural closure with a fault seal to the North and East, and LDKEM-1 will also be able to test the reservoir potential of the Lower Tchala.

The well is expected to take approximately 30-35 days to reach the target depth.