Rig incident at Sông Đốc oilfield contained, no environmental impact

Rig incident at Sông Đốc oilfield contained, no environmental impact

Emergency crews contained the incident within 30 minutes, with no impact on other oil and gas operations, the field operator said.

The rig was damaged after the incident. — Photo baobariavungtau.com.vn

An incident involving an inoperative drilling rig at the Sông Đốc oilfield, located offshore in the southwest of Việt Nam, was quickly brought under control and caused no environmental damage, according to PVEP-POC, the field operator.

The event occurred late on May 21.

As the Sông Đốc field has been inactive since February 2024, with no production operations ongoing, decommissioning activities were underway in line with an approved plan.

Emergency response teams acted swiftly, containing the situation within 30 minutes. The incident had no impact on ongoing oil and gas operations at other fields, the field operator said in a press release.

PVEP-POC, a subsidiary of the Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP), is working with relevant parties to determine the cause of the issue.

Discovered in 2006, the Sông Đốc field lies about 205km south of Cà Mau Cape and was initially operated by a joint venture between PVEP (40 per cent), Petronas Carigali (Malaysia) and Talisman Vietnam Ltd. Due to high operational costs and declining output, the foreign partners exited the project.

In November 2013, PVEP took over full operations to continue marginal production. Late last year, PVEP POC began work to plug wells and remove the Sông Đốc platform as part of the decommissioning efforts. 

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