Rosneft has reported that the PLDD-1X well drilled in Block 06.1, offshore Vietnam, had discovered the Wild Orchid gas condensate gas condensate field. Reserves volumes and commerciality are to be confirmed, according to Rosneft.

As reported earlier - Rosneft commences exploratory drilling offshore Vietnam - Rosneft spudded exploration well PLDD-1X in March 2016. The well, which is Rosneft's first operated well in International waters, was planned to be drilled to around 1380m in water depths of 162m. Rosneft stated at the time that the expected recoverable reserves of natural gas in the PLDD geological structure are estimated at 12.6 bcm, and 0.6 mt of gas condensate which can be developed by subsea completion and tied-back to the existing Lan Tay platform operated by Rosneft in Block 6.1.

The well was drilled by the HAKURYU-5 drilling rig (see below) owned and operated by Japan Drilling Co (JDC). Rosneft announced the signing of agreement with JDC at the Eastern Economic Forum-2015.

Rosneft is currently involved in projects of gas and condensate production and exploration in two blocks offshore Vietnam:

• Block 06.1: Rosneft Vietnam owns 35% of the project and is the project operator; The project is based on the Production Sharing Contract (PSC). The PSC area comprises two gas condensate fields – Lan Tay and Lan Do. The deposits are located 370 km off the coast in the Nam Con Son basin with a sea depth of up to 190 m. The field's initial gas reserves are about 68 billion cubic meters. By June 2015, the block produced its 300-millionth barrel of oil equivalent (or more than 46 billion cubic meters of gas).
• Block 05.3/11: Rosneft Vietnam owns 100% of the project and is the project operator. The license area is located in the region with proven oil and gas content and infrastructure, and is adjacent to fields under development in Block 06.1. The resources of block 05.3/11 are currently estimated at about 40 billion cubic meters of gas and 9 million tons of gas.