Valeura Energy Inc., Calgary, has let a contract to Petrovietnam Drilling and Well Service Corp. to charter the PV Drilling I jack up drilling rig to support its Gulf of Thailand operations in 2023.
The rig is expected to mobilize to Wassana oil field sometime in second-quarter 2023, where it will conduct an initial scope of work comprised of the company's five well infill drilling program, the company said in an Oct. 4 release.
The contract includes an option to extend the scope of work thereafter to include additional drilling operations.
Valeura expects to restart production from Wassana field in this year’s fourth quarter, with initial oil production rates up to 3,000 b/d (net to the 89% working interest held by Valeura subsidiaries) and is targeting an increase to about 4,500 b/d (net) as a result of the 2023 infill drilling program.
The company is continuing to progress work in support of production restart, including securing recertification of the field's mobile offshore production unit (Ingenium) and procuring a suitable floating storage and offloading vessel, it said.
Wassana field was developed by way of production wells drilled from the MOPU and started production in 2015. Peak oil production was 7,700 b/d (gross) in 2016. The field was shut-in temporarily in 2020 amidst a challenging economic climate due to low benchmark oil prices. Valeura Energy acquired the entire share capital of KrisEnergy International (Thailand) Holdings Ltd. earlier this year, setting up its interest in two operated licenses offshore Thailand, License G10/48 containing Wassana field and the planned Rossukon oil field development in License G6/48 (OGJ Online, June 15, 2022).