CNV Field Produces First Oil

RNS Number : 9623Z

Soco International PLC

27 July 2008

 



SOCO International plc

('SOCO' or 'the Company')

CNV Field Produces First Oil

SOCO and its partners, Petrovietnam and PTTEP Hoan-Vu, are pleased to announce the first flow of crude oil and wet gas from the Ca Ngu Vang Field (CNV), which occurred on 25 July 2008. The block is operated on behalf of the Partners by the Hoan Vu Joint Operating Company (HVJOC), which was established in December 2000. 

Four development wells have already been drilled in the CNV Field and HVJOC is currently evaluating and determining further drilling locations for additional development wells in the fractured Basement reservoir. The field is expected to be in production for the next 20 years.   Oil production is expected to be between 10,000 to 20,000 barrels of oil per day and wet gas production to be between 25 to 50 million cubic feet per day. 

Hydrocarbons from the CNV Field are transported via a 25 km subsea pipeline system to Bach Ho's processing facilities. Crude oil is processed, stored in a Floating Storage and Offloading vessel and then transported to oil refineries.. Wet gas separated offshore is transported to an onshore gas facility for further distribution to meet domestic demand of natural gas, LPG and condensate.

The development of the CNV Field as a tie back to Bach Ho in Block 9-1 marks a key milestone in the growth of the Vietnam petroleum industry. This is the first project in Vietnam utilising the existing facilities of Bach Ho in order to minimise the investment costs, making a new way for developing new fields offshore Vietnam in a very cost effective and efficient manner. 

Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, commented: 

'We are very pleased to announce SOCO's first oil from Vietnam, which is a key milestone for the company and demonstrates our ability to see our exploration successes through to production stage. 

'Our strong partnerships within Vietnam have allowed this significant event at the CNV field to be realised and we now look forward to targeting further exploration and development success, in both Vietnam and West Africa.'

28 July 2008

ENQUIRIES:

SOCO International plc        

Roger Cagle, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer    

Tel: [phone]

Pelham Public Relations         

James Henderson             Tel: [phone]

Alisdair Haythornthwaite    Tel: [phone]

EDITORS NOTES:

SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in London, traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The Company has interests in Vietnam, Thailand, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa) and Angola. 

Partners in the CNV block consist of PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (50%), SOCO Vietnam Ltd. (United Kingdom - 25%) and PTTEP Hoan-Vu Co. Ltd. (Thailand - 25%). 

The CNV Field was discovered in October 2002 and was appraised and officially declared commercial in April 2006. The CNV Field is located in Block 9-2 in the Cuu Long Basin, approximately 140 km from Vung Tau, off the southern Vietnam coast. The CNV Field Development Plan was approved by the Partners, PetroVietnam and the Government on 12 December 2006.

 

END

 

 

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