Vietnam boosting oil output with new equipment
HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam is boosting production at its second and third largest oilfields with new equipment, lifting total output by more than 30,000 barrels per day (bpd), Petrovietnam sources said on Wednesday.
Output at Bunga Kekwa, in which Canada's Talisman Energy Inc. and Malaysia's Petronas [PETR.UL] both hold stakes, is slated to rise to 80,000 bpd from October, up from 64,000 bpd in June, as a new platform is installed, sources at the state oil company said.
Production from Rang Dong has risen 15,000 bpd to 75,000 bpd this month after a new rig was installed to drill 12 new wells. Output is now up 50 percent from last year's average.
The new facilities will enable total output from Rang Dong to rise to 90,000 bpd, but it was not clear if output would be raised to that level, the sources said.
Industry experts have said Rang Dong, which produces light, sweet crude with an API gravity of 37.69 and sulphur content of 0.5 percent, could pump a maximum of 100,000 bpd.
Medium-heavy sweet Bunga Kekwa, the third-largest of seven operating fields in Vietnam, is expected to pump 80,000 bpd from October through to the end of year, far exceeding Petrovietnam's initial forecast for 55,000 bpd of crude.
That will coincide with the expected resumption of full production at Bach Ho, the country's biggest field, which should see output rise about 20,000 bpd after repairs on one of its production and storage vessels are completed.
Bunga Kekwa is produced at two offshore blocks, the PM3-CAA and Cai Nuoc, which straddle Vietnamese and Malaysian waters. The two blocks also yield nearly 2,000 bpd of condensate.
Petrovietnam takes around 25 percent of daily output from the field, with the rest split among other stake holders.
Despite being Southeast Asia's third-largest crude oil producer after OPEC members Indonesia and Malaysia, Vietnam has to export most of its crude oil as it lacks major refineries.
Separately, Vietnamese law makers have approved the $2.5 billion price tag for the country's long-delayed first oil refinery, which is expected to start processing about 130,000 bpd by the end of 2008 and begin full operation by early 2009.
Reuters - June 15, 2005.
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