Murphy Oil Makes Discovery Offshore Vietnam

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Murphy Oil Makes Discovery Offshore Vietnam

Murphy Oil Corp. said Tuesday it has discovered oil in the Cuu Long Basin offshore Vietnam. The Hai Su Vang-1X well, part of Block 15-2/17, encountered about 370 feet of net oil pay across two reservoirs. The well was drilled to total depth of 13,124 feet in 149 feet of water, the oil and gas […]

Murphy Oil Corp. said Tuesday it has discovered oil in the Cuu Long Basin offshore Vietnam.

The Hai Su Vang-1X well, part of Block 15-2/17, encountered about 370 feet of net oil pay across two reservoirs. The well was drilled to total depth of 13,124 feet in 149 feet of water, the oil and gas exploration and production company said in an online statement.

“Additional evaluation is ongoing and future appraisal drilling will be conducted”, Houston, Texas-based Murphy said.

“Hai Su Vang is one of multiple exploration prospects that Murphy has identified in the basin. The findings announced today could form the basis for future development of the Hai Su Vang field”.

Eric M Hambly, president and chief executive of Murphy, said, “This discovery adds further upside to our current Vietnam business”.

Murphy operates Block 15-2/17 with a 40 percent stake through subsidiary Murphy Cuu Long Tay Oil Co. Ltd. PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp. Ltd. (PVEP), the upstream arm of state-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), owns 35 percent while SK Innovation Co. Ltd., under South Korea’s SK Group, holds the remaining 25 percent.

The discovery well is part of a two-well exploration program in the Southeast Asian country that Murphy launched in the third quarter of 2024. Murphy will now proceed to spud the Lac Da Hong-1X well in Block 15-1/05, located in the same basin. The two blocks span nearly 1.4 million gross acres in total, according to the company.

In 2019 Murphy made a discovery in Block 15-1/05, which it operates with a 40 percent stake through subsidiary Murphy Cuu Long Tay Oil Co. Ltd. PVEP owns 35 percent while SK Innovation holds the remaining 25 percent.

The LDT-1X well in Block 15-1/05 struck about 320 feet of net oil pay in the primary target and 62 feet of net oil pay in the secondary target. It was drilled to a total depth of 14,090 feet, Murphy said at the time.

The well has since been incorporated into the development phase of the adjacent Lac Da Vang field. The field’s platform construction started in the third quarter of 2024, Murphy said in a statement November 7, 2024.

Elsewhere in Vietnam, Murphy holds a 65 percent operating stake in deepwater blocks 144 and 145, which span a combined 6.55 million gross acres. Located in the Phu Khanh Basin, the blocks have prospects for both oil and gas, Murphy says on its website.

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