Horizon Oil (Thailand) Ltd has signed a concession agreement for Block G10/48, in the southern part of the Gulf of Thailand immediately south of the giant Pailin field and west of the Bongkot field, with the Royal Thai Government Ministry of Energy at a ceremony in Bangkok recently.

The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Horizon Oil Limited, and its partners had previously been advised that their group was the successful bidder on the block. Horizon Oil (Thailand) Ltd. holds a 25% interest in the G10/48 concession in association with Pearl Oil (Thailand) Ltd (operator and 50%) and Tana Oil & Gas (Thailand) Ltd (25%).

Horizon Chief Executive Officer, Brent Emmett, said Block G10/48 typified the company’s exploration objectives. “It is a material acreage position in a fairway where the productive analogues are well understood, operating conditions are benign, oilfield services and infrastructure are abundant and where there is high local demand for both oil and natural gas”,
Emmet said.

“The block encompasses the complete southern end of the Pattani Trough and is covered by an existing large seismic database. We have mapped several large structures on the seismic data set. The existence of a working oil system has been proven by the Mayura discovery which is already covered by a 3D seismic survey and may itself be a candidate for early development.

“For its size and location the area has been very lightly explored with only three wells drilled to date and this leaves considerable potential for what will be an active seismic and drilling campaign.”

Covering some 18,780 km2, the concession contains the southward extension of the Pattani Trough which is the main producing basin in Thailand, with production of 2.2 bcf gas per day and 95,000 bopd. The Pattani Trough is primarily a gas producing basin with many individual accumulations concentrated in the basin depocenter, where source rocks are buried to depths in excess of 5,000 m and generate mainly gas.

Emmett said the consortium has also submitted a bid on the neighbouring G11/48 block and he anticipates the results of the Thai Government’s deliberations on the award of that block within the next month or so.

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The G10/48 concession is located in the southern part of the Gulf of Thailand immediately south of the giant Pailin field and west of the Bongkot field.