SOCO’s majority owned subsidiary, SOCO Vietnam Ltd., announces that the Te Giac Lam 1X exploration well, the first well on Prospect "O" in Block 16-1, will be plugged and abandoned after reaching a total depth of 3,697 metres.

President and Chief Executive of SOCO, commented, "Reservoir quality in the Oligocene section has proven to be challenging in the Cuu Long Basin, offering both good successes in the TGT field and the overpressured TGD-1X well. Given our experience in the TGD-1X well, we expect more consistent success in the overpressured, massive structures represented by the "E" and "E" South prospects."

The well was drilled to test a Miocene four-way closure on one of the Basement ridges that appear on seismic to be analogous to the geological setting of the Te Giac Trang ("TGT") field discovery to the East, and deepened to intersect the Oligocene sands.

Even though the well was drilled overpressured, mud log data indicated 70 metres of sand with good oil shows in the Oligocene section. A test was conducted over this interval however, the sands at this location were found to be tight and further testing was discontinued. The data gathered during the testing process will be further analysed to determine future drilling activities on this new play type.

Upcoming Drilling Activity – TGD-1X Well Testing and VN-1X Exploration Well

The rig will immediately move to the "AA" prospect to drill the Voi Nau 1X exploration well, which is estimated to take approximately 20 days prior to testing, if required. The "AA" prospect is located on trend with the oilfield discovered in 2002 by the Voi Trang 1X well.

Following this well, the rig will be fitted with high pressure equipment, including a 15,000 psi blow out preventer, which will enable it to test the Te Giac Den 1X ("TGD-1X") well on Prospect "E".

As announced on 30 July 2007, the TGD-1X well encountered hydrocarbons in two Oligocene clastic sequences, which were separated by a volcanic layer. Well logs over the upper sequence, the object of the impending test, indicated approximately 30 metres of net pay. After drilling through the volcanics, the well also encountered a deeper high pressure clastic sequence with oil and gas shows. A further 300 metres of sediment is interpreted above the Basement. This interval will not be re-entered on this test, but will be redrilled later in the drilling programme.