Unocal moves to develop three natural gas fields off Viet Nam

Unocal Corp., El Segundo, Calif., said its subsidiaries have filed a declaration of commercial discovery with Petrovietnam, the state oil company, in order to proceed with the development of three natural gas fields off southwestern Viet Nam.

May 24, 2002

2 min read

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, May 24 -- Unocal Corp., El Segundo, Calif., said its subsidiaries have filed a declaration of commercial discovery with Petrovietnam, the state oil company, in order to proceed with the development of three natural gas fields off southwestern Viet Nam.

The declaration follows 10 successful exploration wells drilled on Blocks B and 52/97, including 4 wells drilled last year. Unocal plans to develop the three fields in a single program using shared facilities.

"Our drilling results show that there are sufficient resources on the blocks to support major new power development projects," Randy L. Howard, Unocal international energy operations vice-president. "This declaration is the first step toward signing a long-term gas sales agreement, which is required before any field development can begin."

The declaration covers resources that have been discovered in Kim Long, Ac Quy, and Ca Voi natural gas fields. Based on the drilling to date, Unocal believes the fields have a combined gross discovery volume of 2.5 tcf.

In its latest exploration and appraisal drilling program off Viet Nam, Unocal drilled four wells. The B-KL-4X well on Kim Long prospect found 300 ft of net gas pay, the thickest among the four wells drilled on Kim Long so far. The 52/97-CV-3X well extended Ca Voi field; it found 151 ft of net gas pay and flowed on test at a rate of 37 MMcfd from four zones.
Two appraisal wells extended Ac Quy field—the 52/97-AQ-4X well found 117 ft of net gas pay and flowed at a rate of 48 MMcfd from four zones, while the 52/97-AQ-5X well found 301 ft of gas pay.

Unocal and its partners have production sharing contracts with Petrovietnam covering Blocks B, 48/95 and 52/97 off southwestern Viet Nam. Unocal subsidiaries serve as operator for all three PSC areas.

Partners include subsidiaries of Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. of Japan and PTT Exploration & Production, a unit of Petroleum Authority of Thailand. Petrovietnam, through its subsidiary Petrovietnam Exploration & Production, holds working interests in Blocks B and 48/95 and the rights to acquire additional interest in the PSCs.