The Te Giac Trang (TGT) oil and gas field, located in the Cuu Long Basin offshore Vietnam, has been producing since August 2011.

Hoang Long Joint Operating Company (HLJOC) operates the TGT field. HLJOC is a partnership between PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP, 41%), PTTEP Hoang-Long Company (PTTEP HL) (28.5%), and Pharos Energy (30.5%).

The Government of Vietnam approved the TGT full-field development Plan (FFDP) in September 2020. It followed a two-year licence extension of the TGT field until December 2026, granted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam in August 2020.

The FFDP involves drilling six new production wells in the TGT field. Phase one infill development drilling programme involving four new production wells was started in July 2021 and completed in November 2021.

The remaining two infill development wells are planned to be drilled in phase two in the third quarter of 2022.

TGT field production details

The TGT field produced 15,296 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boepd) in 2020 compared to 17,847boepd in 2019. The field has produced more than 78 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe) since it came on stream in 2011.

The additional wells being developed as part of the FFDP are expected to increase the field’s production to 20,000boepd in 2022.

Te Giac Trang field location, discovery and reservoir details

The TGT field is located in the north-eastern part of block 16-1 of the Cuu Long Basin, off the southern coast of Vietnam. The field lies in 45m-deep waters, approximately 100km south-east of Vung Tau, Vietnam.

The Te Giac Trang was discovered by Pharos Energy (formerly SOCO International) in 2005. The reservoir of the shallow water field comprises Miocene and Oligocene sandstones.

TGT field development details

The TGT field development comprises more than 40 wells, three unmanned wellhead platforms, and the Armada TGT 1 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

H1-WHP, the first wellhead platform, commenced production in August 2011, while H4-WHP and H5-WHP, the other two wellhead platforms became operational in July 2012 and August 2015, respectively. New processing equipment was installed on the H1-WHP in 2017.

A subsea oil pipeline transports crude from the wellhead platforms to the FPSO for processing and storage. Shuttle tankers transport oil from the FPSO to the shore.

Separately, a subsea gas pipeline transports the TGT field’s gas output to the nearby Bach Ho field facilities for processing and further transport to the shore.

Armada TGT 1 FPSO details

The Armada TGT 1 FPSO measures 336.26m-long, 47.8m-wide, and 22.8m-deep. The FPSO has an oil production capacity of 55,000 barrels a day (bpd) and an oil storage capacity of 620,000 barrels.

A SuezMax tanker was converted into the Armada TGT 1 FPSO. Owned by Malaysia’s Bumi Armada, the Armada TGT 1 FPSO is operating at the Te Giac Trang field under a charter contract with HLJOC.

The two gas turbine compressors on the FPSO were upgraded to enable higher discharge pressure in April 2020.

Contractors involved

PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services Corporation (PV Drilling) was engaged to drill four new production wells in phase one of the TGT infill development drilling programme in 2021. It employed jack-up drilling rig PV Drilling II to execute the contract.

Bumi Armada secured a new bareboat charter contract worth £218m ($285m) from HLJOC in August 2018 to extend the firm charter period of the Armada TGT 1 FPSO from August 2018 to November 2024. The previous contract was for a seven-year period, which expired in August 2018.