Valeura Energy makes multiple oil discoveries in Gulf of Thailand
Valeura Energy announced three oil discoveries on its assets in the offshore Gulf of Thailand.
The Nong Yao-13 well was drilled to 5,399 ft measured depth (MD) – 3,342 ft true vertical depth (TVD) – and discovered just over 30 ft of new oil pay across several intervals. The result confirms that oil has successfully migrated into this area of the block, a factor that was seen to be a risk in the Nong Yao D area. The particular intervals comprising the discovery are relatively shallow new zones not produced elsewhere on the concession. These reservoirs are believed to be recurring across the Nong Yao D area and further analysis of the seismic data is warranted.
Two wells were drilled north of the Wassana oil field to identify sufficient oil volumes in the northern area of the block to justify a future development project. The Niramai-4 well was an exploration and appraisal well approximately one km northeast of the successful Niramai-1 oil discovery, originally drilled in 2009. The Niramai-4 well was drilled to 7,312 ft MD (5,581 ft TVD) and discovered over 90 ft of new oil pay across two key reservoirs.
Following the evaluation, the well was sidetracked with a high-angle well known as Niramai-4 ST1 to test the Wassana North prospect, a separate fault block immediately north of the Wassana field. The well was drilled to 12,388 ft MD (5,782 ft TVD) and discovered approximately 40 ft of new oil pay. The deepest oil-bearing zone is of particular interest in that the wellbore intersected the reservoir significantly downdip of the crest and oil is interpreted to be present at the base of the reservoir, with no oil-water contact identified in the well. This indicates further potential, both deeper than penetrated, and more laterally expansive in the updip portion of the structure.
Valeura’s contracted drilling rig has been mobilized to the Nong Yao field, where it will soon begin drilling two infill development wells on the Nong Yao A platform, intended to add to production rates in the near term. Once commissioning work is complete on the Nong Yao C Mobile Offshore Production Unit, the rig will begin development drilling on the Nong Yao C accumulation. The company is targeting first oil from Nong Yao C in early Q3 2024.
