Valeura Energy, an oil and gas company with assets offshore in the Gulf of Thailand and the Thrace Basin of Turkey, has agreed with Petrovietnam Drilling and Well Service Corporation to charter the PV Drilling I jack-up drilling rig to support its Gulf of Thailand operations in 2023.
The PV Drilling I rig is expected to mobilize to the Wassana oil field in mid Q2 2023, where it will conduct an initial scope of work comprised of the company's five well infill drilling program.
The arrangement includes an option to extend the scope of work thereafter, to include additional drilling operations at the company's discretion.
In Q2 2022, Valeura signed and then closed a share purchase agreement to acquire KrisEnergy International (Thailand) Holdings Ltd. which owns and operates two licences in the offshore Gulf of Thailand.
The acquisition includes the suspended Wassana oil field and the fully appraised Rossukon oil field. Additionally, through a separate agreement, the company agreed to acquire the Mobile Production Unit Ingenium (“MOPU”) which is on location at the Wassana oil field.
Valeura reiterated its previous target that it expects to re-start production from the Wassana oil field in Q4 2022, with initial oil production rates of up to 3,000 bbls/d (net to the 89% working interest held by Valeura's subsidiaries) and is targeting an increase to approximately 4,500 bbls/d (net) as a result of the 2023 infill drilling program.
"The company is continuing to make good progress on the key work streams in support of production re-start at Wassana, including securing the recertification of the field's mobile offshore production unit facility and procuring a suitable floating storage and offloading vessel," Valerua said.
Sean Guest, President and CEO said: "We remain confident in our ability to resume oil production at the Wassana field later this quarter. With positive progress on all key work streams, supporting the return to active production operations, we are already setting our sights on our growth targets, and with this drilling rig contract in place we will be well-prepared to increase production in 2023."