SOCO triples oil production in year to date

Production levels soared at oil and gas producer SOCO International in the first four months of the year.

The group averaged 11,690 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) on a net working interest basis, three and a half times the amount produced in the first four months of last year.

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Production at Te Giac Trang in Vietnam is scheduled to begin ahead of schedule after advances made in the first part of the year. Gross production from the field is expected to ramp up to around 55,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). The company has relinquished control of the Te Giac Den site after deciding not to drill another well.

In Africa, analysis of the Makouala Marine exploration well indicated that the reservoir sands were not as well developed as previously thought and there was insufficient overall pay thickness for commercial flow rates. The well was subsequently plugged and abandoned and the rig released.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the company has signed a co-operation agreement which grants and governs SOCO's access to the Virunga National Park, where it is planning to undertake an aerial survey next month. At Nganzi, the 2D seismic acquisition programme, which commenced early in the first quarter, has been successfully completed and following interpretation, decisions on potential drilling locations will be made.

In a statement the company said that "although there is no certainty that any new projects will be introduced in the near term, revenue from Te Giac Trang oil sales is set to transform the cash resources of the company with the southern part of the field coming into production in a few months".

Cash at May 15th totalled $181.8m, compared to $113.5m at December 31st 2011.

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