Singapore (Platts)--22Jan2013/413 am EST/913 GMT
State-run PetroVietnam and the Vietnamese government have approved a farm-out of offshore exploration blocks 120 and 105-110/04 by Neon Energy and Kris Energy to Italy's Eni, Australia-listed Neon said Tuesday. Eni had entered into the farm-out agreement in June last year. Following the closure of the deal, Eni will hold a 50% operating interest in the two blocks with Neon and Southeast Asia-focused Kris holding 25% each. The two blocks cover approximately 15,600 sq km (5,928 sq miles) of acreage and are located in the Song Hong and Phu Khanh basins in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Song Hong Basin is estimated to contain 10% of Vietnam's hydrocarbon resources, mainly gas. Article continues below...Request a free trial of: Oilgram NewsOilgram News brings fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news to your desktop every day. Our extensive global network of correspondents report on supply and demand trends, corporate news, government actions, exploration, technology, and much more.
State-run PetroVietnam and the Vietnamese government have approved a farm-out of offshore exploration blocks 120 and 105-110/04 by Neon Energy and Kris Energy to Italy's Eni, Australia-listed Neon said Tuesday. Eni had entered into the farm-out agreement in June last year. Following the closure of the deal, Eni will hold a 50% operating interest in the two blocks with Neon and Southeast Asia-focused Kris holding 25% each. The two blocks cover approximately 15,600 sq km (5,928 sq miles) of acreage and are located in the Song Hong and Phu Khanh basins in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Song Hong Basin is estimated to contain 10% of Vietnam's hydrocarbon resources, mainly gas.
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Neon said Tuesday that the joint venture is fast tracking procurement of suitable drilling rigs -- a jackup rig for shallow water drilling in block 105, and a semi-sub floating rig for drilling in the moderate water depths of block 120. A number of options are being progressed for each type of rig, with the drilling program expected to commence midyear, it added. According to Netherland Sewell & Associates, 12 leads identified by Neon following a recent 3D seismic program in block 120 offer total unrisked prospective resources of between 633 million barrels and 7.95 billion barrels. The seven gas/condensate leads identified in block 105-110/04 offer total unrisked prospective resources of between 1.7 Tcf and 21.4 Tcf. The approval of the farm-out deal follows a signing on Monday of a memorandum of understanding by PetroVietnam and Eni to pursue potential joint upstream opportunities in Vietnam and elsewhere. Under an agreement signed in Rome by Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni, and his counterpart at PetroVietnam, Do Van Hau, Eni said it could offer the stakes in some of its international exploration and development portfolio to the Vietnamese company. In return, Eni could expand its upstream footprint in Vietnam with access to new blocks in the country, the company said. "After the recent exploration successes in Indonesia and Pakistan and acquisitions in Australia, the memorandum signed today represents a further step forward for Eni's strategy to strengthen its presence in Asia, a region with high potential and very attractive prospects in terms of upstream and market opportunities," Eni said in a statement.--Mriganka Jaipuriyar, mriganka@platts.com--Edited by E Shailaja Nair, shailaja_nair@platts.com
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