Canadian oil and gas explorer and subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc. has signed a deal to acquire a 60% share of an oil exploration block off the shores of Vietnam.
Talisman said late Tuesday April 26 it made the deal with PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Co., a subsidiary of the national oil company of Vietnam, which will hold the remaining 40% interest.
“We are excited about the exploration potential of the area,” Jim Buckee, president and chief executive of Calgary-based Talisman, said in a statement after stock markets closed.
Buckee said the exploration block being purchased -dubbed Block 15-2/01 -is “located in the centre of the most prolific oil producing region of Vietnam and offers significant exploration opportunities, which, if economic, can be developed quickly.”
The block covers an area of 280,000 hectares and is located about 20 kilometres offshore the city of Vung Tau in southern Vietnam in 25 to 50 metres of water.
A joint operating company will carry out operations on the block.
Talisman is no stranger to international production, with operations outside North America that include the North Sea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Algeria, the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
Talisman’s subsidiaries also conduct business in Colombia, Qatar and Peru.
Talisman sold its oil interests in Sudan to India’s state-owned oil company ONGC, after tiring of criticism levelled at the company for producing oil in a country ravaged by civil war.
Talisman shares (TSX:TLM) gained 63 cents to close atUS$40.76 in Tuesday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.