London-based E&P outfit, Soco Group, has posted profit for 2006 of $29.1 million, a 42 percent increase on drill bit success in Vietnam and Yemen, a statement Thursday said.

After spending more than ever last year, Soco completed a number of appraisal wells in Vietnam and can boast the Te Giac Trang discovery that tested 17,500 barrels of equivalent per day from Miocene and Oligocene strata.

Eight exploration wells are planned for Block 16-1 in Vietnam this year, with a Te Giac Trang “look alike” prospect already mapped out.

“A declaration of commerciality on the Te Giac Trang field is imminent,” chief exec, Ed Story said in a statement.