Vietnam Interest Acquisition
Soco International PLC
19 June 2006
SOCO International plc
('SOCO' or 'the Company')
Acquisition of Minority Interest in Vietnam
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 and
the Republic of Congo with production operations in Yemen.
SOCO announces that it has purchased an additional 2% interest in Block 16-1 in
the Cuu Long Basin, offshore in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, taking its
total interest in the Block to 30.5%. Exploration drilling on this Block to date
has identified an 80 kilometre long play fairway with prospects and leads mapped
at multiple horizons, and the Company expects to declare commerciality on the Te
Giac Trang prospect in the near future.
The purchase of the additional interest in Block 16-1 was carried out by SOCO's
wholly owned subsidiary SOCO International (Cayman) Limited, which acquired the
entire share capital of Opeco, Inc. from its shareholders on 16 June 2006.
Opeco, Inc. holds the entirety of the shareholding of Opeco Vietnam Ltd., which
holds a direct 2% interest in Block 16-1 in the Cuu Long Basin, offshore in the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The consideration paid for the acquisition was
US$22,000,000 in cash.
Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, commented:
'We think this is an extraordinary opportunity to further consolidate our
interest in the oil rich Block 16-1. We believe that there is no greater
potential reward for every exploration dollar spent than in the Cuu Long Basin
in Vietnam.'
19 June 2006
ENQUIRIES:
SOCO International plc
Roger Cagle Deputy Chief Executive Tel: 020 7747 2000
and Chief Financial
Officer
Pelham Public Relations
James Henderson Tel: 020 7743 6673
Alisdair Haythornthwaite Tel: 020 7743 6676
Notes to editors:
SOCO holds its other interests in Vietnam, all in the Cuu Long Basin offshore,
through its 80% owned subsidiary SOCO Vietnam Limited ('SOCO Vietnam'). SOCO
Vietnam holds a 25% working interest in Block 9-2, which is operated by the Hoan
Vu Joint Operating Company and following this transaction holds a 30.5% working
interest in Block 16-1, which is operated by the Hoang Long Joint Operating
Company.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange I
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