Soco: Output from Vietnam fields falls short amid rig delays

Oil production from CNV and TGT fields offshore Vietnam has fallen short of expectations amid operational issues, and multiple rigs might be needed to alleviate the matter, SOCO International said on Monday.

The London-listed company said that output from the two fields in the first half of the year (net to Soco’s interest) averaged 7,772 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD).

TGT production for January-June averaged 20,565 BOEPD gross and 6,201 BOEPD net to SOCO. CNV production for January-June averaged 6,287 BOEPD gross and 1,571 BOEPD net to Soco, the company said.

Commenting on the production levels, Soco said:”Production from the TGT and CNV fields in Vietnam is currently lower than previous guidance. This is due to the delayed start-up of drilling operations including the late arrival of a rig and equipment delivery delays.

Two rigs delayed

JDC’s Hakuryu-11 jack-up rig arrived at the CNV-WHP to drill the CNV-5P side-track well on June 19, but operational issues in removing the existing completion string delayed the start-up of sidetrack drilling for 14 days. Once this well is complete, the rig is expected to move to the H5-WHP located in TGT.

A second jack-up rig, the PetroVietnam Drilling PVD-1, is expected to drill from the H1-WHP. The arrival of this rig has been delayed due to extended operations by its current contractor, Soco said.

Soco said a number of options were being reviewed to complete the planned three to four well 2018 drilling program and therefore minimize the impact on production.

“Options under consideration include running multiple rigs and revising the order in which wells are drilled. The operational delays do not impact on the fields’ reservoirs or resources and the company’s revised average production guidance is 7,400 – 8,200 BOEPD for the remainder of 2018,” Soco added.