Vietnam Block 15-2/17... Reservoir Thickness 112m
Continuous Achievements with Focused Investment Since 1998
SK Innovation's energy resource development subsidiary, SK Earth On, has discovered crude oil in a Vietnamese block where it made an equity investment. The resource development project in the Vietnamese waters, where strategic investments have been concentrated since 1998, is expected to gain further momentum.
According to foreign media reports on the 8th, Murphy Oil Corporation, the operator of the Vietnam 15-2/17 block, recently announced the final confirmation of crude oil reserves during the exploration well drilling in the 15-2/17 block located in the Cuu Long Basin off the southeastern coast of Vietnam. Murphy began exploratory drilling in this block in the fourth quarter of last year and recently discovered a reservoir with a thickness of about 112 meters in the block structure named "Golden Sea Lion."
This block is an exploration block in which SK Earth On participated in 2019, holding a 25% stake, while Murphy and the Vietnamese state-owned oil company PVEP (Petro Vietnam Exploration Production) hold 40% and 35% stakes respectively. It is located 64 km southeast offshore from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, within the Cuu Long Basin, which is considered a promising resource exploration area accounting for more than 50% of total crude oil and gas production.
In particular, it is adjacent to the 15-1 production block and the 15-1/05 development block, which have the second-highest cumulative production in Vietnam, making the likelihood of successful resource development very high. Many evaluations suggest that synergy effects can be expected through linked development with neighboring blocks upon crude oil discovery. With this crude oil discovery, SK Earth On has delivered consecutive good news following the crude oil discovery in the 16-2 block, the first operated exploration block in Vietnam, in November 2023.
Meanwhile, SK Earth On announced that the cumulative production of the China 17/03 block has surpassed 10 million barrels. This block is the first among domestic private companies to successfully conduct crude oil exploration, development, production, and shipment independently using proprietary technology, achieving results within one year of starting production in 2023. Based on these positive developments, SK Innovation recorded cumulative sales of 1.0975 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 427.6 billion KRW in the resource development business from the first to third quarters of last year. A representative of SK Earth On explained regarding the resource development business, "Since 2022, annual sales have consistently exceeded 1 trillion KRW, and operating profit has steadily increased, playing a significant role as a cash cow."
The SK Innovation group, including SK Earth On, first entered the resource development business in 1983 and currently participates in 11 blocks and 3 LNG projects across 8 countries worldwide, producing an average of 57,000 barrels per day (in oil equivalent) of crude oil and gas.
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