SOCO report the first flow of crude oil and wet gas from the Te Giac Trang Field (TGT), which occurred at 0655 local time in Vietnam today. The block is operated on behalf of SOCO and its Partners, PetroVietnam and PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, by the Hoang Long Joint Operating Company (HLJOC), which was established in 1999.

The TGT Field, discovered in August 2005, was approved for the initial development by the Government of Vietnam in September 2009. The development is comprised of a Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel ('FPSO'), two Well Head Platforms (H1 and H4 areas), and a subsea pipeline system to transport hydrocarbons, gas export, gas lift and water for injection.

Crude oil from the TGT Field is transported via a subsea pipeline system to the FPSO 'Armada TGT 1', which has a name plate processing capacity of 55,000 barrels of oil per day ('BOPD'), where it is processed, stored and exported via tankers to regional oil refineries. Gas will be transported through a pipeline to the nearby Bach Ho Facilities for processing and transportation to shore via the existing pipeline infrastructure for further distribution to meet domestic demand. TGT oil output is expected to plateau at approximately 55,000 BOPD and gas production will be approximately 30 million cubic feet per day.

The development of the TGT Field marks a successful investment co-operation milestone in the Vietnam oil and gas industry with the delivery of production within two years of approval.

In addition to starting first production from the TGT Field H1 area, HLJOC continues drilling production wells in the H4 area of the TGT Field and fabricating Platform Topsides in preparation for its petroleum production start-up in August 2012.

Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, commented,'We are very pleased to announce first oil from the TGT Field in Vietnam, a key milestone for the Company demonstrating our ability to see our exploration successes through to the production stage. The project always had an ambitious delivery target and we are pleased to have achieved this.

Our strong partnerships have allowed this significant event at the TGT Field to be realised and we now look forward to targeting further exploration and development success, both in Vietnam and in Africa.'

Tags: Soco International