Valeura Energy has completed an eight-well drilling campaign on its Nong Yao field in the offshore Gulf of Thailand. This development programme included the first multi-lateral well drilled by the company.
The drilling campaign consisted of eight new wellbores in the Nong Yao field, where Valeura holds a 90 per cent operated working interest. This included one appraisal well that encountered its target, which the company reported will lead to future development drilling at the Nong Yao A platform.
President and Chief Executive Officer Sean Guest stated, "We continue to access new oil reservoirs with ongoing drilling, and have again increased production from the Nong Yao field, our largest producing asset." He added that the campaign demonstrated the potential for multi-lateral drilling to enhance development efficiency in the region.
The remaining seven horizontal development wells were drilled from the Nong Yao A and B platforms and have been successfully brought online as producers.
Among these was the NYA-42ST1H well, which set a record for the longest horizontal lateral drilled in the Gulf of Thailand at 4,960 feet (1,511.8 metres).
Combined oil production from the field rose due to the drilling and a concurrent well workover campaign on the Nong Yao B and C platforms.
Output increased from an average of 8,870 barrels per day (1,410.2 cubic metres per day) for the seven-day period ending April 4, 2026, to approximately 10,500 barrels per day (1,669.4 cubic metres per day) for the seven-day period ending June 16, 2026.
For the first time in its operations, Valeura executed a multi-lateral well by constructing a junction point in the NYB-02ST1 wellbore.
This design allowed the drilling of two separate horizontal production legs targeting different reservoir intervals, representing the first multi-lateral well of this complexity attempted in Thailand.
These two lateral intervals are now producing oil from separate targets while utilising only one well slot on the wellhead facility. The operator explained that this approach helps maximise the production potential of its facilities and access more of the reservoir.
The company is evaluating its forward drilling schedule to identify other candidates in the Gulf of Thailand that could support multi-lateral wells.
Meanwhile, its contracted drilling rig has relocated to the Jasmine field where Valeura plans a five-well drilling programme consisting of three single-bore development wells and a two-wellbore multi-lateral well.