Eneos jackup lands two-well gig offshore Vietnam

Japan’s Eneos Drilling, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eneos Xplora, has signed a contract with Japan Vietnam Petroleum Company (JVPC) to supply a jack-up rig from its fleet for a drilling assignment offshore Vietnam.

Under the contract, the Hakuryu-14 rig will embark on a firm two-well assignment in Block 15-2, offshore Vung Tau, Vietnam, which is expected to take about 110 days. The gig is set to start between the end of May and the middle of June 2025.

Hakuryu-14 is a 400-feet operating water depth self-elevating cantilever jack-up drilling rig, built by PPL Shipyard in 2018 using a Baker Marine Design.

The assignment comes on the heels of JVPC signing a new production-sharing contract (PSC) for Block 15-2 with PVEP, a subsidiary of PetroVietnam, on March 25, 2025, since the previous one was set to expire in April 2025. The new contract has a term of 25 years, effective from April 7, 2025.

According to PetroVietnam, the signing will facilitate the maintenance of crude oil and natural gas exploration at the Rang Dong and Phuong Dong fields, along with the implementation of activities to boost reserves in the contracted area.

Block 15-2 covers an area of ​​approximately 415 square kilometers, located in the central and northeastern part of the Cuu Long sedimentary basin, including two large oil and gas fields, Rang Dong and Phuong Dong, with an average water depth of 57-60 meters.

As stated by JVPC, the cumulative oil production in the block reached over 250 million barrels in September 2024. The firm claims not to have had any lost time injuries (LTI) in over 21 consecutive years of operations.

The Rang Dong field is home to MODEC’s floating storage unit (FSO) bearing the same name as the field. The FSO is installed in approximately 60 meters of water depth and is designed to have a receiving capacity of 60,000 barrels of oil per day and storage capacity of 350,000 barrels.

The FSO could stay in the field until 2028 if all options under the contract signed with JVPC in 2017 are exercised. Based on information on MODEC’s website, the vessel is on charter until April 2026, which means that one option has already been exercised, leaving two one-year options.

JVPC acquired its interest in Block 15-2 in 1992, leading to the oil discoveries and subsequent productions at Rang Dong and Phuong Dong oil fields in 1998 and 2008, respectively. The firm will continue to hold a 45% participating interest and stay on as operator in the new PSC, with PVEP retaining its 55% interest.

The new PSC is in line with the duo’s agreement to extend their partnership post-April 2025, as provided in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) they signed in 2021.