U.S. firm Murphy Oil to deploy multilateral well technology in Vietnam

U.S.-headquartered Murphy Oil Corporation is set to become the first firm to deploy multilateral wells in Vietnam, a technology suited to offshore and subsea operations, a Petrovietnam statement said Tuesday.

Murphy Oil mentioned the plan at a meeting with PVEP, the exploration-production arm of state-owned Petrovietnam, on the sidelines of the recent U.S. visit by Vietnamese Party chief and State President To Lam.

Multilateral wells technology can improve exploitation capacity and halve drilling costs simultaneously, boosting economic performance, Murphy Oil said.

The corporation also noted it was willing to allocate sufficient resources to deploy drilling projects in Vietnam and meet the deadlines set in cooperation pacts with PVEP.

PVEP has invited Murphy Oil to tap investment opportunities in Vietnam, particularly in oil exploration and exploitation projects. PVEP and Petrovietnam will assist Murphy Oil in project implementation, the statement said.

In August, Murphy Oil said it was preparing to spud two exploration wells in Vietnam later this year. CEO Roger Jenkins said the firm planned to spud the Hai Su Vang exploration well in Block 15-2/17 and the Lac Da Hong exploration well of Block 15-1/05. Both blocks are located in Cuu Long Basin, offshore southern Vietnam.

The company has estimated that the Hai Su Vang and Lac Da Hong wells have gross potential resources of 170-430 million and 65-135 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE), respectively.