Rosneft spins drill bit offshore Vietnam

Russia’s Rosneft has kicked off drilling operations at a production well at the (Lan Do field) as part of Block 06.1 development, offshore Vietnam.

The oil company has set the target depth of the well at about 1200 meters, with sea depth at the drilling site being around 160 meters.

According to Rosneft, the Lan Do field has initial natural gas reserves of 23 billion cubic meters. To develop the field further, Rosneft plans to build subsea installations which will be connected to the Lan Tay platform in the block.

Processed gas and natural gas liquid are delivered from the platform to the shore by the two-phase Nam Con Son pipeline that is 370 km long – the longest two-phase pipeline in South East Asia. Due to the two-phase technology gas and gas condensate are delivered to the onshore processing facility simultaneously.

During the 2018 campaign in Vietnam, Rosneft is also looking to drill a sidetrack well, next to the previously drilled PLD-1P exploration well on Phong Lan Dai field (Wild Orchid) –  also located within Block 06.1. Target depth of the well is 1300 meters. As a result, the well will be reclassified as a production well.

Japanese rig

Rosneft discovered the Wild Orchid field in 2016, a project which saw Rosneft engaged as an operator of an international offshore drilling project for the first time. According to Rosneft, the field revealed commercial gas reserves of 3,4 billion cubic meters.

” Offshore infrastructure objects are being constructed on Lan Tay platform in order to deliver gas and natural gas liquids from the Wild Orchid field, Rosneft said on Tuesday,” Rosneft said.

Drilling on Lan Do and Phong Lan Dai will be carried out using the semi-submersible drilling rig Hakuryu-5, owned by the Japanese company Japan Drilling Co., Ltd (JDC).

Rosneft is currently involved in gas and condensate production projects on two offshore Vietnam blocks and is also a participant of The Nam Con Son Pipeline project.

Rosneft Vietnam B.V. owns 35% share in the Block 06.1, which contains three gas condensate fields – Lan Tai, Lan Do, and PLD (Wild Orchid). The fields are 370 km offshore in Nam Con Son basin. Sea depth in the areas reaches 190 meters. Initial gas reserves of the fields are about 69 billion cubic meters, according to data available on Rosneft’s website.