Valeura Energy tested oil in two neighboring fault blocks near its Manora field in the Gulf of Thailand, with net oil pay of 162 feet in one block and 172 feet in the other. The company named the new find Suraphi and says the results likely justify a new satellite platform on Block G1/48, where Valeura holds a 70% operated working interest.
Manora-9 finds oil in two fault blocks
The well behind the find, Manora-9, is an open water exploration well drilled with several sidetracks about 4.5 km northeast of the Manora A platform. Each sidetrack targeted a separate fault block:
- E block: gross oil column of 626 feet, with 162 feet of net oil pay in oil-bearing sandstone within the 600-series lacustrine sands
- D block: gross oil column of 849 feet, with 172 feet of net oil pay in a similar reservoir section
- A third sidetrack, aimed at a shallower and riskier target, came up dry
Net oil pay is the portion of reservoir rock that will actually flow oil, narrower than the full gross column drilled.
A third block, and a best case
Oil in the D and E blocks lowered the risk on a third block in the same structure, labeled F, which Valeura says shows up clearly on 3D seismic. Pressure readings taken while drilling, combined with the company's mapping, point to a chance that all three blocks are filled all the way to spill point, the depth at which a trap can hold no more oil before it overflows. Valeura frames that outcome as its best case for the discovery. Even on a tighter read that credits only the oil already proven in the wellbores, the company says the find still clears the bar for a satellite development.
President and CEO Dr. Sean Guest called the discovery "a game-changer for Block G1/48," and said the net pay beat the company's pre-drill estimates.
A platform that could also reach Malida
Valeura says a new platform built for Suraphi carries a second benefit: it would put the Malida field, 3.5 km away, within reach for the first time, since Malida has no development route of its own. Tying the new platform back to the existing Manora wellhead and processing equipment would also stretch out Manora's producing life, according to the company, by recovering oil late in the field's life that would not otherwise be worth producing. Valeura is moving into development planning for Suraphi now, while it studies an appraisal plan for Malida and takes a fresh look at nearby exploration prospects for future drilling.
Jasmine wells add barrels
Before drilling Manora-9, Valeura finished a development and appraisal campaign on Jasmine, where the company holds a 100% operated interest in Block B5/27. Crews completed four wellbores, split evenly between the Jasmine-C and Jasmine-D platforms: two horizontal development wells and two wells drilled to both develop and appraise at once. The two dual-purpose wells also confirmed new zones that Valeura will weigh as future development candidates.
Output at Jasmine climbed from about 7,570 barrels a day, before royalties, in the seven days before the new wells started up, to about 8,250 barrels a day, before royalties, in the seven days after all four wells were online.
Next: Nong Yao, then Wassana
Valeura will demobilize the Borr Mist drilling rig and release it from contract. Gulf of Thailand drilling then resumes in early November 2026, when the company begins a charter of the Shelf Drilling Enterprise rig, part of the same upstream push that produced the Suraphi find and the Jasmine results. That rig will start on the Nong Yao field, Block G11/48, where Valeura holds a 90% operated working interest, then move to development drilling on the Wassana field, Block G10/48, where the company holds a 100% interest.
