Vietnam and Malaysia are expected to start commercial production soon at a new oil field off Vietnam's southern coast after tests showed good crude oil reserves, a Vietnamese state-run newspaper reported on Thursday.
Drilling since April 2011 at the Diamond field in the 01-02 block, 162 km (100 miles) northeast of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, has found oil and gas and assessment of the field's recoverable reserves was now under way, the New Energy newspaper said.
It gave no specific output details for the field. Block 01-02, where Ruby, Pearl and Topaz oilfields are operational, is being developed by Malaysia's Petronas Carigali (PVCL) and Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corp (PVEP), units owned by state-run oil firms in the two countries.
Ruby, Pearl and Topaz now pump a combined 20,000 barrels per day, said the newspaper, which is run by the Vietnam Oil and Gas Association.
Petronas and PVEP have had success in developing Block 01-02 and are expected to bring in "greater achievements", Petrovietnam Chairman Dinh La Thang was quoted by the newspaper as saying during a visit to the field on Tuesday.
State-run Petronas, which wholly owns PVCL, has an 85 percent stake in the production-sharing contract of block 01-02 while PVEP, the exploration and production arm of state oil and gas group Petrovietnam, has 15 percent, the report said.
