Essar Oil to invest $60 million in Vietnam

Essar Oil's upstream exploration & production subsidiary, Essar Exploration & Production Ltd Mauritius, has been awarded a shallow water block in Vietnam's prolific Song Hong basin admeasuring approximately 5,925 sq km. The block was offered under the recent licensing round offering 7 offshore blocks.

The minimum work programme for the block envisages detailed geological and geophysical studies, reprocessing of selected existing 2D seismic data, acquisition, processing and interpretation of fresh 3D seismic of 1000 sq km, and drilling of two exploratory wells with 3500 m target depth.

The exploration phase is estimated to last five years and the investment for this programme will be approximately $60 million.

The company says it is in the process of consolidating its upstream exploration & production activities under its proposed subsidiary, EEPL.

"This will help build a strong, fully integrated oil Company with upstream, refining and downstream marketing activities," the company said in a statement.

Once this exercise is completed, Essar Oil will have eight oil and gas blocks including onshore blocks in Madagascar; an offshore block in Nigeria; on shore block in Mehsana, Gujarat; and one coal bed methane block in Raniganj, West Bengal; the offshore field Ratna & R Series and two onshore blocks in Assam."