Vietnam Drilling Update

Soco International PLC
13 July 2007


                             SOCO International plc
                           ('SOCO' or 'the Company')

                            Vietnam Drilling Update

The Company's majority owned subsidiary, SOCO Vietnam Ltd., announces that on
the 8th of July 2007 the Adriatic XI rig spudded the Te Giac Hong exploration
well on Block 16-1 in the Cuu Long Basin offshore Vietnam to evaluate the 'L'
North prospect. The well is being drilled to evaluate the Miocene and Upper
Oligocene sections that are productive in the Te Giac Trang discoveries.
Drilling is currently at 1,680 metres and is expected to take approximately 25
days in total.

The PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services rig, PVD-1, is back to drilling the
Te Giac Den-1X ('TGD-1X') well on the 'E' prospect, also on Block 16-1, after
being taken off line due to a series of control system failures, which
potentially could have compromised safe continuation of drilling operations.
Following advice from PetroVietnam Drilling and the control system supplier,
drilling operations were suspended for approximately 18 days while the control
system problems were diagnosed. The problems have been corrected and the control
system amended leading to recommissioning of the rig. Barring further
complications, the rig is expected to reach the preliminary target depth in
approximately 10 days. Logging should add approximately a week to the total
elapsed time, after which time the well will be suspended.

High pressure testing equipment is expected to be available in August. Should
testing be required, the Adriatic XI rig will immediately test the TGD-1X well
after moving off its drilling location elsewhere on Block 16-1.

                                                                    13 July 2007


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]

NOTES TO EDITORS:

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, Yemen, Thailand,
the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and the Democratic Republic of Congo
(Kinshasa) with production operations in Yemen.

SOCO holds its interests in Vietnam, all in the Cuu Long Basin offshore, through
its 80% owned subsidiary SOCO Vietnam Ltd. ('SOCO Vietnam') and through its 100%
ownership of OPECO, Inc. SOCO Vietnam holds a 25% working interest in Block 9-2,
which is operated by the Hoan Vu Joint Operating Company and holds a 28.5%
working interest in Block 16-1, which is operated by the Hoang Long Joint
Operating Company. OPECO, Inc. holds a 2% interest in Block 16-1.


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