Total has announced that its subsidiary, Total E&P Vietnam, and its partners on Block 15-1/05, have discovered oil in the Lac Da Nau prospect, located in the southern part of the block offshore Vietnam

15-01/05 LDN-1X exploration well is the first well drilled and the first discovery made on Block 15-01/05. It is located approximately 110 km to the East of Vung Tau, about 65 km off the coast, and was drilled in a water depth of 45 m. The well produced 4200 bpd of 44 API° oil during tests performed in the basement.

Phu Quy Petroleum Operating Exploration and Production Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Petrovietnam Exploration and Production Corp., is the operator of Block 15-1/05 with a 40% stake. The other partners on Block 15-1/05 are Total E&P Vietnam (35%) and SK Energy (25%).

A production sharing contract

In addition to its 35% participation in Block 15-1/05, in March Total signed a production sharing contract with Petrovietnam for Blocks DBSCL-02 and DBSCL-03. Located in the Mekong delta region, these onshore blocks are held by Total (75% and the operator) and Petrovietnam Exploration and Production Corp. (25%).

Activity in the Asia-Pacific region

Total’s share of production in the Asia-Pacific region averaged 246 000 bpd of oil equivalent in 2008, accounting for 11% of the group’s total output and close to 50% of its LNG output.

Total diversified its assets with the acquisition of interests in a number of exploration licences in Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. It has a 24% interest in Australia’s Ichthys LNG project, in partnership with INPEX, and has signed a production sharing contract with China National Petroleum Corp. to study the natural gas resources of the South Sulige Block in China.