By Robert Sullivan, Interfax Energy
A group of three Japanese companies has found gas offshore Vietnam, brightening the development prospects for the consortium following previous discoveries in the area.
Gas rig offshore. (Photo Photo by Albatross via Getty Images)
Idemitsu Kosan, which operates the connected 05-1b and 05-1c blocks with a 35% share, announced on Thursday that it had discovered gas and condensate in the fourth well drilled in the area.
The blocks lie in the Nam Con Son Basin, Vietnam’s largest offshore gas reserve with 159.3 billion cubic metres of proven gas reserves, according to Malaysia-based bank CIMB. Along with its partners JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration (35%) and Inpex (30%), Idemitsu announced two other discoveries in the area in 2011 and 2013.
The consortium did not provide any estimates on the size of the resource, but Idemitsu said it plans to carry out a detailed reservoir study and evaluate other potential prospects in the blocks.
Should the partners decide to develop the gas finds, they would likely be delivered to the planned Nam Con Son 2 (NCS2) gas pipeline, which is expected to pass through the area to collect gas from the Hai Thach, Moc Tinh, Thien Ung Dai Hung, and Mang Cau gas fields farther south.
PetroVietnam’s subsidiary PV Gas is leading the $1.3 billion, 325 km subsea NCS2 pipeline, which would eventually have a transmission capacity of 7 bcm/y – similar to the Nam Con Son 1 pipeline which began operating in 2003.
The pipeline would run to the onshore Dinh Co gas processing facility near the city of Vung Tau. Gas from Ding Co is then delivered to industrial consumers, fertiliser companies and power plants.
Read the full story by Robert Sullivan from Interfax Energy.
