Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has successfully restarted production from its Wassana oil field project in the Gulf of Thailand, signaling the imminent start of its three-well drilling campaign. The oil and gas operations had been temporarily halted after an incident in July 2023 involving the floating storage and offloading vessel (FSO) at the field.

The FSO deviation incident prompted Valeura to suspend operations temporarily, but the company is now set to resume full-scale activities. The Wassana field, located in the Gulf of Thailand, will be the focus of a three-well drilling program to boost production rates. The company had initially planned a five-well infill drilling program, aiming for an increase in rates to 4,500 barrels per day (bbls/d).

Oil production at the Wassana field resumed safely on December 8, 2023, and Valeura is gearing up to mobilize its contracted drilling rig in the coming days. The PV Drilling 1 jack-up drilling rig will be positioned to conduct further wells, contributing to the ramp-up of production volumes.

Sean Guest, President and CEO of Valeura, expressed satisfaction with the resumption of production operations at Wassana and outlined the company's growth plans. Valeura aims to increase production capacity to over 4,000 bbl/d through the upcoming drilling program before redeploying the rig to the Nong Yao C development in early 2024.

Valeura entered into a letter of award (LOA) in November 2022 with PT Buana Lingas Lautan (Buana) for the charter of the MT Vula tanker, now renamed MT Jaka Tarub, as an FSO vessel for the Wassana oil field. The vessel, a Panamax-sized oil tanker with a storage capacity of 460,000 bbls, is utilized for crude oil storage. Three60 Energy Group has been appointed to operate the MT Jaka Tarub for the remaining duration of its charter.

Looking ahead, Valeura's CEO highlighted the potential longer-term re-development of the Wassana field, aiming to commercialize appraisal discoveries made in the third quarter of 2023. The company is actively working on concept selection for expansion, anticipating a final decision in 2024.

In recent months, Valeura disclosed the presence of Borr Drilling's Mist rig at the Manora oil field, where three wells were planned to increase production. Upon completion of operations at Manora, the rig is scheduled to move to the Wassana field for Valeura's five-well infill drilling program.