TNK-BP has commenced its first offshore drilling operations on the Lan Do field development project offshore Vietnam.

The Lan Do 2P well was spud on Saturday, January 14, 2012 using the Ocean Monarch (UDW semisub).

Lan Do field contains 2 vertical sub-sea wells at a water depth of about 185 meters and is located 28 kilometers east of Lan Tay Platform in Block 06.1, where TNK-BP is producing natural gas and condensate for power generation in Vietnam. The sub-sea wells drilling will be tied back to Lan Tay Platform using a single 12-inch flow line.

Gas production from Lan Do, which is scheduled to come on stream in the fourth quarter of this year, is expected to bring 2 billion cubic meters of gas annually to sustain Block 06.1's current production of 4.7 billion cubic meters.

Alexander Dodds, Executive Vice President, Upstream, said, "Launching operations at the Lan Do field is a milestone in TNK-BP's operational history. It will provide us with crucial technical data and allow us to acquire unique new competencies in offshore field development."

TNK-BP acquired a 35 percent stake from BP and has become the Operator of Block 06.1, 320km off the southern coast of Vietnam and containing the Lan Tay and Lan Do gas condensate fields.