Update 1-S.Korea GS Caltex finds oil, gas in Thailand
Mon Dec 4, 2006
SEOUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) - South Korean refiner GS-Caltex Corp. found oil and natural gas in onshore oil blocks in Thailand, the company said on Monday.
The Thai blocks, L10/43 and L11/43, are owned 30 percent by the refiner and 70 percent by Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. (MOECO), a unit of Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. (8031.T: Quote, NEWS , Research).
The two companies drilled the first test well in July and plan to continue exploration of the blocks throughout by 2010.
"GS Caltex found two oil bearing zones in the block that can produce up to 1,254 barrels per day of crude and 720,000 cubic feet of natural gas a day," the company said in a statement.
Exploration in Thailand is part of the company's latest effort to secure resources by investing in overseas upstream assets. GS-Caltex also has stakes in exploration wells in Cambodia's block A and Russia's West Kamchatka block.
The Thai oil block is in the northern vicinity of Sirikit Oil Field which is the largest oil producing field in onshore Thailand, estimated to hold 37 million barrels of crude, the company said.
GS-Caltex is a joint venture between South Korea's GS Holdings Corp. (078930.KS: Quote, Profile , Research) and ChevronTexaco Corp. (CVX.N: Quote, Profile , Research).
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.