Soco: First oil flows from H5 platform offshore Vietnam

First oil and gas from the H5 Wellhead Platform (“H5-WHP”) of the Te Giac Trang (“TGT”) field in Vietnam started flowing on Monday following perforation of the first of the H5 development wells, Soco International has informed.

The company has said the start of production has been achieved more than one month ahead of schedule and the H5 development project has been completed with zero lost time accidents.

The perforation campaign will continue over the next two weeks targeting the optimal balance between maximising new production from the H5-WHP, natural production decline rates and water-cut from the existing wells with total liquids handling capacity on the FPSO currently available to the TGT partners, Soco said in a statement Thursday..

The H5-WHP is located in the south of the TGT field in Block 16-1 in the Cuu Long Basin, off the southern coast of Vietnam, approximately 100 kilometres from Vung Tau, 20 kilometres northwest of the Bach Ho field and 35 kilometres west of the Rang Dong field.

TGT was discovered in August 2005. The H5-WHP is TGT’s third platform to be brought on production. The first platform, H1-WHP, came on stream in August 2011, followed by the H4-WHP in July 2012. Crude oil from TGT is transported via subsea pipeline to an FPSO where it is processed, stored and exported by tankers to regional oil refineries. Gas produced from the field is transported by pipeline to the nearby Bach Ho facilities for processing and onward transportation to shore by pipeline to supply the Vietnamese domestic market.

Block 16-1, where TGT is located, is operated on behalf of SOCO (30.5%) and its partners, PetroVietnam Exploration & Production Corporation (41%) and PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (28.5%), by the Hoang Long Joint Operating Company.

Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of Soco, said: “Achieving first oil from H5, the third platform on the TGT field, over one month ahead of an ambitious delivery target is a credit to all involved. It is a key milestone for the field’s ongoing development. We now look forward to working with our partners to maximise the recovery and performance of the field.”