Valeura drills first multi-lateral well in Gulf of Thailand campaign
(WO) — Valeura Energy has completed an eight-well drilling campaign at its Nong Yao field in the Gulf of Thailand, increasing production while successfully drilling the company's first multi-lateral development well.
The program, conducted on the Nong Yao field in Block G11/48, included one appraisal well and seven horizontal development wells drilled from the Nong Yao A and Nong Yao B platforms. All development wells successfully encountered their target reservoirs and have been brought online as producers.
Among the wells drilled was NYA-42ST1H, which established a new Gulf of Thailand record for the longest horizontal lateral drilled, reaching 4,960 ft.
The campaign helped increase production from Valeura's largest producing asset. Average field production rose from approximately 8,870 bopd prior to the drilling and workover program to about 10,500 bopd as of mid-June, net to Valeura before royalties.
“We continue to access new oil reservoirs with ongoing drilling, and have again increased production from the Nong Yao field, our largest producing asset,” said Sean Guest, president and CEO of Valeura Energy. “Our team has demonstrated the potential for multi-lateral drilling in the Gulf of Thailand as a way to enhance the efficiency of what is already a world-class drilling and completions organisation.”
A key milestone of the campaign was the successful execution of Valeura's first multi-lateral well, NYB-02ST1. The well features a junction from which two separate horizontal production legs were drilled into different reservoir targets. According to the company, it was the first multi-lateral well of this complexity ever attempted in Thailand.
The design allows production from two separate reservoir intervals while utilizing a single well slot on the offshore platform, helping maximize facility capacity and reservoir access.
Valeura said it sees broader applications for multi-lateral drilling across its Gulf of Thailand portfolio and is evaluating future opportunities to deploy the technology at additional fields.
The company's contracted drilling rig has now moved to the Jasmine field, where a five-well drilling campaign is planned. The program will include three conventional development wells and another multi-lateral development well.
