The operation of Ca Tam is significant for Vietnam to maintain oil and gas output.
Vietsovpetro, a Vietnam-Russia oil joint venture, has initiated crude oil production at the Ca Tam field off Vietnam’s southern shore, the first new field brought into operation in Vietnam after the global oil price plunge in 2014.
Ca Tam is jointly developed by Vietsovpetro, PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corp (PVEP) and private conglomerate Bitexco Group, which puts out 1,630 tonnes per day, according to state-run energy firm Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).
Located at block 09-3/12, 160 km southeast of Vietnam’s coast, the field is hooked up to the facilities in the nearby block 09-1, which houses the country’s largest oil field Bach Ho.
Earlier this month, PetroVietnam said that Ca Tam is one of the two offshore fields it expected to start commercial production this year. It added that tensions in the South China Sea, to which Vietnam refers as the East Sea, will continue to weigh on its offshore operations this year.
Vietsovpetro, a joint venture set up in 1981 with 51 percent stake held by PetroVietnam and 49 percent by Russia’s wholly state-owned Zarubezhneft, operates in petroleum exploration and production on the southern continental shelf of Vietnam.
The company is projected to exploit 4.74 million tonnes of condensate and 234 million cubic meters of natural gas, earning revenue of $1.97 billion in 2017, up 3.5 percent on year.
In a visit to Vietnam in 2015, Russian prime minister Dmitri Medvedev said that the two countries would continue running the joint venture until at least 2030.
