SOCO outlines drilling progress at TGT field offshore southern Vietnam

Offshore staff

LONDON – SOCO International has issued updates on its development and exploration programs offshore Vietnam.

The company and its partners received formal approval for the updatedTGT full field development plan from the Vietnamese government in February.

This is said to be a ‘dynamic’ plan outlining development options beyond 2017, based on prediction scenarios drawn from the 2016 TGT reserve assessment report and the 2015 TGT geological model and dynamic simulation.

Approval provides for up to 18 additional wells, with locations to be defined at a later date, and installation of new processing equipment on the H1 wellhead platform (WHP). The aim is to arrest and then reverse the field’s production decline.

Development drilling started last fall with two infill wells from the H4-WHP. Two more infill wells were added to the program for execution during 2017.

In March, thePVD VI jackup resumed operations from the H1-WHP, drilling and completing the TGT-30P well, targeting the Miocene and Oligocene reservoir horizons in the crestal part of the H1.1 fault block.

This well is currently producing around 2,500 boe/d, with an as-predicted 40% water cut.

Subsequently the rig transferred to the H5-WHP in the southern part of the field to drill the TGT-29P infill well, using smart completion technology to optimize hydrocarbons recovery.

The well was tied into the production system in June and is currently flowing around 1,600 boe/d.

The third and final operation this year was the resumption of the TGT-14X step-out appraisal well on the H5 south fault block, initially spudded in 2015. The high angle and long reach of the well added complexity to drilling operations.

Although the well reached total depth, poor hole conditions prevented a successful completion. Smaller, non-standard drilling equipment will have to be brought in to re-drill the reservoir section and, consequently, completion has been deferred to the next campaign.

Construction of new processing equipment for the H1-WHP has finished and installation is under way. The facilities will handle an additional 90,000 b/d of liquid with a water handling capacity of up to 65,000 b/d, increasing the total system’s handling capacity to around 180,000 b/d.

This should allow for higher levels of oil production at the same or higher water cut rate than was previously feasible.

At the CNV field in the western part of block 9-2 offshore Vietnam, discussions continue with Vietsovpetro, owner of the host Bach Ho complex, on the most effective means of enhancing performance through modifications at the reception terminal.

Fishing operations on the CNV-6PST1 well to recover wireline stuck in the completion were unsuccessful. Alternative operations are under review for implementation next year.

Last month, SOCO and SOVICO Holdings were granted a production-sharing contract forblocks 125 and 126 offshore central Vietnam. Formal signature should follow during the fall.

Both blocks are in moderate to deepwater in the Phu Khanh, north of the Cuu Long basin, with multiple structural and stratigraphic plays observed on available seismic data.

Interpretation suggests good potential for source, expulsion, and migration of oil with numerous reservoir and seal intervals likely.

The initial program will include reprocessing and interpretation of seismic, with a first exploration well potentially drilled in 2021-2022.

09/14/2017