With oil flowing from Asian offshore field once again, start-up of drilling campaign only days away

Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has restarted production from an oil field project in the Gulf of Thailand, following a shutdown due to an incident. As a result, the Canadian player is looking forward to kicking off its three-well drilling program on the field.

The production operations at the Wassana oil field in the Gulf of Thailand were temporarily suspended after the floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO) stationed at the field deviated from its intended position on July 6, 2023, and contacted the field’s catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) buoy. Valeura is targeting an increase in rates to 4,500 bbls/d as a result of a five-well infill drilling program, which was slated to start in the second quarter of 2023. To this end, the company chartered the PV Drilling 1 jack-up rig.

According to the firm, the oil production at the field resumed safely on December 8, 2023. The Canadian firm intends to mobilize its contracted drilling rig to the field in the coming days. Once in position, further wells will be brought online to ramp up production volumes. The company plans to conduct an infill drilling program, encompassing three production-oriented horizontal development wells, targeting deeper reservoir intervals within the field.

Sean Guest, President and CEO of Valeura, commented: “I am pleased to see production operations resume at the Wassana field. The immediate contribution of production is a welcome addition to our portfolio, and moreover, with all aspects of the field now being conducted in accordance with our high standards for operational excellence, we are turning our attention immediately to growth. 

“We have a brief window of opportunity in our overall drilling sequence plan to drill three wells at Wassana commencing later this month, which we anticipate will increase production capacity to over 4,000 bbl/d, before re-deploying the rig to our Nong Yao C development early in 2024.” 

Back in November 2022, Valeura handed over a letter of award (LOA) to PT Buana Lingas Lautan (Buana) for the charter of the MT Vula tanker – renamed MT Jaka Tarub – which would be used as an FSO vessel for the production from the oil field. This is a Panamax-sized oil tanker, with a storage capacity of 460,000 bbls. The re-certification of the Wassana field’s MOPU Ingenium – amounting to a formal life extension of the facility – was completed last year.

Furthermore, the Wassana field’s oil storage and offloading vessel, MT Jaka Tarub, remains owned by the Buana Lintas Lautan Group and is chartered by Valeura to store crude oil produced from the field. Three60 Energy Group, an energy service company offering complete asset life cycle expertise covering various facets of the global upstream industry, has been appointed to operate the vessel for the remaining duration of its charter.

“Our team is also working toward a potential longer-term re-development of the Wassana field, to commercialize the two appraisal discoveries we made in 3Q 2023 by adding reserves and expanding the overall capacity of the field. Concept selection work is progressing with excitement as we begin to re-frame the Wassana asset as a meaningful source of organic growth within our portfolio. We anticipate taking a final decision on the expansion in 2024,” outlined Guest.

A few months ago, Valeura disclosed that Borr Drilling’s Mist rig was on location at the Manora oil field, where it was set to drill three wells aimed at increasing production from the field and by extension, adding to the economic life of the asset. Upon completion of operations at Manora, which were anticipated in early August 2023, the rig was set to move to the Wassana field for the firm’s five-well infill drilling program.