Viet Nam: Malay-Tho Chu basin exploratory well spuds

May 6, 2013
A group led by Mitra Energy Ltd. has spudded the 46/07-ND-1X exploratory well in less than 70 m of water on 3,281 sq km Block 46/07 on the northeastern margin of the Malay-Tho Chu basin offshore southernmost Viet Nam.

A group led by Mitra Energy Ltd. has spudded the 46/07-ND-1X exploratory well in less than 70 m of water on 3,281 sq km Block 46/07 on the northeastern margin of the Malay-Tho Chu basin offshore southernmost Viet Nam.

The well is the first of a three-well drilling campaign operated by Mitra subsidiaries in Viet Nam in 2013.

Working interests in the block are Mitra Energy 35%, Talisman Energy Inc. 35%, and Petrovietnam Exploration Production 30%. Petrovietnam EP has consented to Talisman’s farm-in, which remains subject to the government approval.

The Block 46/07 PSC, signed in 2010, is southeast of Block 51. Block 46/07 is the remaining area of the original Block 46/02, where the Song Doc, Rach Tau, Khanh My, and Phu Than (SRKP) development area has been retained. The SRKP development area is operated by Truong Son Joint Operating Co.

The hydrocarbon play in Block 46/07 is similar to that of the SRKP development area, with complex Miocene age structural-stratigraphic combination traps representing the primary targets.

A 387 sq km 3D seismic survey was shot in 2010 on which multiple prospects have been identified, with a total net best estimate mean prospective resource of 72 million bbl of oil equivalent and a total net high estimated prospective resource of 170 million boe.

Site survey work was completed in late 2012 in preparation for the drilling of two exploratory wells this year.