Stockholm-based Lundin Oil AB and partners have announced plans to drill another production well under Phase 1 development of Block PM-3 in the Commercial Arrangement Area (CAA) between Malaysia and Viet Nam.
The CAA covers a once-disputed area on which Malaysia and Viet Nam reached a settlement in 1996. Production from Bunga Kekwa field, where the new well will be drilled, began in 1997.
The partners will drill Well A7 on West Bunga Kekwa, southeast of Well A4, which has produced about one third of PM-3 production to date (see map). The group will subcontract a drilling rig from member Petronas Cariga* Sdn. Bhd.; the partners expect to spud the new well in late November.
The firms hope the well will produce 2,000-3,000 b/d of oil, increasing production to as much as 17,000 b/d from the current 14,000 b/d.
Ian Lundin, president of Lundin Oil, said, "It is expected that the drilling of the A7 well will materially increase production levels, extending the economic life of Phase 1 well into the next decade."
Phase 2 of PM-3 development involves boosting production to 40,000 b/d of oil and 250 MMcfd of gas. Phase 2 has been postponed, however, first by the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 and later because the partners have had difficulty finding buyers for the gas.
PM-3 has yielded five oil and gas fields: Bunga Kekwa, Bunga Raya, Bunga Pakma, Bunga Seroja, and Bunga Orkid.
But the geology is complex, and the partners have identified more than 100 discreet reservoirs, which has further complicated development plans.
Interests in PM-3 are: operator Lundin Oil, 41.44%; Petronas Carigali, 46.06%; and PetroVietnam Exploration & Production, 12.5%. n
