Rosneft has commenced exploratory drilling of a block offshore Vietnam. The company said the drilling will be performed using the HAKURYU-5 drilling rig owned and operated by Japan Drilling Co. Another exploration well is expected to be drilled in Nam Con Son basin.

Rosneft chairman of the management board, Igor Sechin, said: “The Rosneft team has already demonstrated their competence in Russia during the successful drilling of the world’s northernmost well in the Kara Sea, which resulted in the discovery of a new deposit, the Pobeda field. “Today, the company starts a similar project as a drilling operator in international waters. I am sure that the experience gained in

Vietnam will be used by the Company not only in its activity in the southern seas; these competences will find application in planning and implementation of upstream projects in remote areas. “I would especially like to emphasize that this project is an example of advanced cooperation with the Company’s partners in the Asia-Pacific: Petrovietnam and ONGC. “We appreciate not only the current progress of joint projects implementation in Vietnam, but also the future prospects for their development.”