IPL, PARTNERS TO EXPLORE TWO BLOCKS OFF VIET NAM

Another foreign group will explore for oil and gas off Viet Nam. International Petroleum Corp. unit International Petroleum Ltd. (IPL) of Dubai, U.A.E., Swedish Exploration Consortium AB (Secab), and Clyde Expro plc late last month signed production sharing agreements with state owned Viet Nam Oil & Gas Co. covering two offshore blocks. The combined area totals 11,329 sq km. Block 115, covering 6,719 sq km, lies at the juncture of the Gulf of Tonkin and Yingge Sea basins offsetting blocks

March 19, 1990

2 min read

Another foreign group will explore for oil and gas off Viet Nam.

International Petroleum Corp. unit International Petroleum Ltd. (IPL) of Dubai, U.A.E., Swedish Exploration Consortium AB (Secab), and Clyde Expro plc late last month signed production sharing agreements with state owned Viet Nam Oil & Gas Co. covering two offshore blocks.

The combined area totals 11,329 sq km.

Block 115, covering 6,719 sq km, lies at the juncture of the Gulf of Tonkin and Yingge Sea basins offsetting blocks awarded to British Petroleum Co. plc and a venture of Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Petrofina SA.

There has been no exploratory drilling of note in Vietnamese waters of the area, but oil and gas discoveries have turned up off China's Hainan Island.

Sparse seismic data indicate a number of large structural and stratigraphic leads that will be detailed with a forthcoming seismic survey and drilled soon thereafter, IPL said.

Block 22, covering 4,610 sq km, offsets Enterprise Oil plc's Block 21 in the South Con Son basin. The basin has yielded several oil discoveries, including the Soviet-Vietnamese joint venture's Big Bear oil field.

Seismic data also are sparse in this area, but "very large, promising leads abound," and plans call for seismic surveys to get under way soon.

IPL holds a 50.5% interest in the production sharing contracts, with remaining interests held by Clyde 25% and Secab 24.5%.