Drilling Announcement

Soco International PLC
24 September 2002


                SOCO International plc ('SOCO' or 'the Company')
                         Discovery on Vietnam Block 9-2



SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company,
headquartered in London.  The Company has interests in Vietnam, Mongolia, Yemen,
Libya, Tunisia, and Thailand with production operations in Yemen, Tunisia and
Mongolia.



SOCO Vietnam Limited ('SOCO Vietnam'), SOCO's 80% owned subsidiary, and its
partners in Vietnam announce the second discovery in Vietnam and the first
discovery on Block 9-2.  The Ca Ngu Vang-1X ('CNV-1X') vertical exploration
well, the first well on Block 9-2, has tested at a stabilised combined rate of
approximately 3,600 barrels of crude oil equivalent per day comprised of
approximately 2,500 barrels of crude per day and approximately 6.6 million cubic
feet of gas per day.



The unstimulated open hole test was conducted over a 24 hour period from a
Basement interval of 850 metres.  The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,567
metres, entering Basement at 3,717 metres. Although originally designed as a
pure Basement exploration well, well log analysis and oil shows during drilling
also indicate oil potential in an upper Miocene interval of approximately 15
metres which will be tested later.



The rig will be moved immediately after the conclusion of testing and plugging
and abandoning this expendable well to drill the 'A' prospect on Block 16-1, the
second well on the Block and the third well in the drilling programme.  The 'C'
prospect, the largest prospect on Block 9-2, will be drilled as the fourth well
in the four well drilling programme.



SOCO Vietnam currently holds a 25% working interest in Block 9-2 and has
recently announced an increase in its interest in Block 16-1 from 15% to 28.5%
subject to Vietnam governmental approval.  SOCO Vietnam's interest in Block 9-2
and its initial interest in Block 16-1 is carried up to a maximum amount of
US$50 million through the initial exploration programme under the terms of a
farm-out agreement announced earlier this year. Both Blocks are contiguous to
the Bach Ho (approximately 250,000 BOPD and 150 million cubic feet of gas per
day) and the Rang Dong (approximately 55,000 BOPD) producing fields.



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



'When SOCO listed in London in May of 1997, the project in Vietnam was merely a
concept although the effort to secure some assets there had been underway for
three years prior to that time. The concept has become a reality with this
significant discovery. Moreover, greater potential remains with even larger
prospects yet to be drilled. Vietnam has clearly become a core area for SOCO,
which we believe will join the ranks of significant producers in Vietnam.'

                                                               24 September 2002

Enquiries:


SOCO International plc                               Tel: [phone]
Ed Story, Chief Executive
Roger Cagle, Chief Financial Officer

College Hill                                         Tel: [phone]
James Henderson




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