Murphy Cuu Long Bac Oil, a subsidiary of Houston-based oil and gas company Murphy Oil, has made progress in the development of its oil project in the Cuu Long Basin off the coast of Vietnam, as the construction of a jacket for a central processing platform (CPP) destined to be installed at the site has been completed by PTSC Mechanical & Construction (PTSC M&C), a Vietnam-headquartered turn-key engineering, procurement, construction, installation, transportation, hook-up, and commissioning (EPC/EPCIC) services contractor.
Following a stamp of approval from the Vietnamese government to advance its Lac Da Vang (Golden Camel) field development plan in Block 15-1/05, Murphy decided to proceed with the project in 3Q 2023 and handed out a contract for the provision, charter, operation, and maintenance of a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit in December 2024 to PTSC Asia Pacific , which is a joint venture between Yinson Production and PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) .
After the construction of the FSO vessel began in Q1 2025, a rig contract for development drilling at Lac Da Vang was signed in Q2 2025, with drilling expected to kick off in the last quarter of the year. While the first oil is targeted in 4Q 2026, development is expected to continue through the financial year 2029.
PTSC M&C is the main EPCIC contractor responsible for the construction of two modules and a flare boom, weighing over 6,000 metric tons, along with a jacket and piles weighing over 4,500 metric tons. The Asian firm has confirmed the completion of the jacket, which was done within 16 months of the EPCIC contract award secured in May 2024.
While marking what it describes as an important milestone of 2 million safe man-hours, PTSC Mechanical & Construction has finished the load-out of the Lac Da Vang – A (LDV-A) platform jacket and piles, scheduled for offshore installation in Vietnam’s waters by the end of September 2025.
“The successful load-out of the jacket and piles marks a critical step forward for the Lac Da Vang-A project, bringing PTSC M&C and its client Murphy Cuu Long Bac Oil closer to completing the central processing platform by the end of 2026, in line with the committed schedule,” highlighted PTSC M&C.
The Lac Da Vang – A project is operated by Murphy Cuu Long Bac Oil (40%), with PetroVietnam Exploration Production (PVEP) (35%) and SK Earthon (25%) as partners.
The project has an estimated ultimate recovery of 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) gross resources, with peak gross production of 30 to 40 mboepd and 10–15 mboepd net peak production.