On December 11, PetroVietnam celebrated a milestone in the company’s history with the first production of oil from its joint venture with Thai and Algerian companies in Bir Seba, Algeria.

“So far in the first stage of exploration we have drilled 16 wells,” said Director Hoang Ngoc Dong of Director of PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) in Algeria. 

The project is a joint venture between the PVEP (40%), Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Company (35%) and Algeria's state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach (25%).

Dong said the project was first launched in 2002 and now, in the early stages of production, has crude oil production of 2,900 metric tons or 20,000 barrels per day.

When the later stages are reached production will be 5,800 metric tons or 40,000 barrels per day between 2018 and 2021 and about 30 million metric tons or 200 million barrels in later years.

The Bir Seba field, located in a desert area roughly 130 kilometres northeast of Hassi Messaoud, comprises 16 productive wells, crude oil processing facilities along with oil and gas pipelines.

It is the first overseas project in which PetroVietnam has participated throughout all phases— from the initial searching and exploration for oil to monitoring oil field development and later stages of commercial production.

It is not only being considered a milestone in the development of the Vietnam oil and gas industry but is also celebrated as it marks a landmark in effective economic cooperation between Viet Nam, Thailand and Algeria.