By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Aug. 7 -- Unocal Corp. began its first oil production in the Gulf of Thailand.
Plamuk field came on stream at 2,500-3,000 b/d of oil, which is expected to increase to 15,000-18,000 b/d in the first quarter 2002.
In March, Unocal said it intended to work on Gulf of Thailand oil fields Plamuk, Yala, and Surat (OGJ Online, Mar. 5, 2001).
"We expect to significantly increase production once we have completed installation of a new oil processing platform adjacent to existing gas processing facilities in the nearby Platong field," said Randy Howard, president of Unocal Thailand. "We are drilling additional wells in the Yala and Plamuk fields that will help us boost production."
Production from Yala will be added once the Thai government approves the application.
A new floating storage and offloading vessel, SIBEA, was installed. In total, Unocal plans to produce from four new production platforms (two in the Plamuk field and two in the Yala field), in addition to two existing platforms in the Kaphong field and one in the Surat field (OGJ Online, Oct. 19, 2000).
Operator Unocal's partners in the area include Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. (23.75% interest) and PTT Exploration & Production Public Co. Ltd. (5%).
