Five more years at Canadian firm‘s oil field lay in store for Thai FPSO

Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has extended two contracts related to an oil field offshore Thailand. This will enable a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO) vessel, which is currently working on the field, to continue carrying out operations for five more years.

Valeura Energy revealed on Thursday, 1 June 2023, that it had extended the charter for the leased FPSO FPF-003, former Jasmine Venture MV7, and a contract for the provision of operating and maintenance services for the vessel for five years until the end of 2028. This FPSO is deployed at the Jasmine oil field in the Gulf of Thailand, which the Canadian player recently acquired from Mubadala Petroleum’s subsidiary, Busrakham Oil and Gas.

Sean Guest, Valeura’s President and CEO, commented: “I am pleased to announce these developments, which further illustrate the potential to continue deriving value from the Jasmine oil field. As announced on 17 May 2023, the Jasmine field has produced 90 million bbls cumulative, greatly exceeding the expectations set at its original development sanction in 2004 of approximately seven million bbls. 

“As we continue to see the potential for further production from the Jasmine oil field we have prioritised the maintenance of our infrastructure as a key aspect to ensuring the ongoing safe delivery of value. These contract extensions pave the way for Valeura to pursue further field extensions and infill drilling in the years to come as we continually seek to extend the economic life of the asset.” 

Furthermore, Valeura Energy is currently conducting approximately $9 million in capital projects to refurbish the FPSO, aimed at ensuring its ongoing reliability and extending the vessel’s class certification. The spending associated with the refurbishment is in line with the Canadian company’s expectations.

The processed oil from the Jasmine field is stored at the FPSO and offloaded to shuttle tankers for sale into the domestic Thai market. This field produces light, sweet crude oil. The programme of ongoing infill development drilling on Licence B5/27 includes approximately 19 further wells planned over the 2023 – 2026 time frame.

Valeura also restarted production from another oil field project in the Gulf of Thailand in April 2023 and increased its interest in the license containing this field.