Petrovietnam, JV Partners Sign PSC for Vietnam Block

Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) and its joint venture partners have signed a product sharing contract (PSC) for Block 15-1 on the southern continental shelf of Vietnam.

When completed, the project will supply 125 billion standard cubic feet (Bcf) per day of natural gas to the domestic market, Petrovietnam said in a news release.

Under the PSC, Petrovietnam subsidiary Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) holds 59 percent in the asset, Perenco holds 19.8 percent, Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) holds 11.4 percent, SK Group holds 7.2 percent, and Geopetrol holds 2.6 percent. The project will be operated by the joint venture Cuu Long Joint Operating Company (Cuu Long JOC), which is the second largest oil exporter in the country.

The contract signing officially kicks off phase 2B of the $1.3 billion White Lion Project, Petrovietnam said, citing a Perenco representative.

Block 15-1, an oil and gas block with one of the country’s largest reserves and one of the earliest to be developed, is located in the Cuu Long basin in the southern mainland of Vietnam and includes the Black Lion, Golden Lion, Brown Lion and White Lion oil and gas fields, according to the release.

The asset is one of the few blocks in Viernam that contains large-scale commercial oil and gas fields. The Black Lion, Golden Lion, and Brown Lion fields operate in parallel with the White Lion gas field, “creating an integrated exploitation ecosystem, optimizing both technical infrastructure and operational efficiency,” Petrovietnam said.

The entire cluster forms an integrated system in Vietnam covering production, processing, and transportation, with a central processing platform, floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) platforms, wellhead platforms, and a pipeline system, the company said.

Block 15-1 provides stable crude oil to the domestic market through the Dung Quat Oil Refinery, and also brings natural gas to serve the gas industry in the Southeast region, making it “one of the strategic pillars [of] the national energy system,” Petrovietnam said.

In 2003, the first oil was extracted from the Black Lion field, with estimated reserves of about 600 million barrels of oil, second only to the country’s White Tiger field. By 2024, the total output of the project was more than 426 million barrels and more than 216 Bcf of gas, bringing in total revenue of more than $31 billion, Petrovietnam said.

“In the coming time, the demand for energy for development is very large, clearly shown in the recent adjustment of the 13th Power Plan. The early and highly effective implementation of key energy projects, oil and gas projects, and important oil and gas contracts, such as PSC Block 15-1 today, plays a very important role in contributing to achieving the goals of developing the national oil and gas industry, ensuring energy security and socio-economic development of the country,” Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son said.

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