Vietnam Drilling Update
Soco International PLC
25 September 2007
SOCO International plc
('SOCO' or 'the Company')
Vietnam Drilling Update
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), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
and Angola with production operations in Yemen.
TGL-1X Well
The Company's majority owned subsidiary, SOCO Vietnam Ltd., announces that the
Te Giac Lam 1X ('TGL-1X') exploration well, the first well on Prospect 'O' in
Block 16-1, will be plugged and abandoned after reaching a total depth of 3,697
metres. The well was drilled to test a Miocene four-way closure on one of the
Basement ridges that appear on seismic to be analogous to the geological setting
of the Te Ge Trang ('TGT') field discovery to the East, and deepened to
intersect the Oligocene sands.
Even though the well was drilled overpressured, mud log data indicated 70 metres
of sand with good oil shows in the Oligocene section. A test was conducted over
this interval however, the sands at this location were found to be tight and
further testing was discontinued. The data gathered during the testing process
will be further analysed to determine future drilling activities on Prospect 'O'
in Block 16-1.
Upcoming Drilling Activity - TGD-1X Well Testing and VN-1X Exploration Well
The rig will immediately move to the 'AA' prospect to drill the Voi Nau 1X
exploration well ('VN-1X'), which is estimated to take approximately 20 days
prior to testing, if required. The 'AA' prospect is located on a shallow water
play fairway, on trend with an oilfield discovered in 2002 by the NO-1X well.
Following this well, the rig will be fitted with high pressure equipment,
including a 15,000 psi blow out preventer, which will enable it to test the Te
Giac Den 1X ('TGD-1X') well on Prospect 'E', which covers an areal extent of 30
kilometres.
As announced on 30 July 2007, the TGD-1X well encountered hydrocarbons in two
Oligocene clastic sequences, which were separated by a volcanic layer. Well logs
over the upper sequence, the object of the impending test, indicated
approximately 30 metres of net pay. After drilling through the volcanics, the
well also encountered a subsequent high pressure clastic sequence with oil and
gas shows, which is anticipated to continue through a further 300 metres of
sediment. This interval will not be re-entered on this test, but will be
redrilled later in the drilling programme.
Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, commented:
'Reservoir quality in the Oligocene section has proven to be challenging in the
Cuu Long Basin, but has offered good successes in both the TGT field and the
overpressured TGD-1X well. Given our experience in the TGD-1X well to date, we
expect more consistent success in the overpressured, massive structures
represented by the 'E' and 'E' South prospects and look forward to testing the
upper sequence of the TGD-!x well in the near future.'
25 September 2007
ENQUIRIES:
SOCO International plc
Roger Cagle Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Tel: 020 7747 2000
Financial Officer
Pelham Public Relations
James Henderson Tel: 020 7743 6673
Alisdair Haythornthwaite Tel: 020 7743 6676
Notes to editors:
SOCO holds its interests in Vietnam, all in the Cuu Long Basin offshore, through
its 80% owned subsidiary SOCO Vietnam Limited ('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 ('HVJOC') and
holds a 28.5% working interest in Block 16-1, which is operated by the Hoang
Long Joint Operating Company ('HLJOC'). OPECO, Inc. holds a 2% interest in Block
16-1.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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