Golden Camel's 60 million barrels would last 6.6 years at the block's 25,000 barrel-a-day ceiling

SK Earthon owns 25% of Block 15-1/05, having invested in the project in 2007 ^[7]. Applied to the 25,000 barrel-a-day ceiling ^[6], that is 6,250 barrels a day ^[15], or 10.8% of the 58,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day the group averages on its ownership stakes ^[13][16]. (The company's wording is "up to" 25,000, so 10.8% is a maximum.)

The reserve estimate sets a limit on how long that lasts. Sixty million barrels at 25,000 a day is 6.6 years of flat output ^[17], if the estimate and the ceiling describe the same fields. A field that declines would run longer at lower rates, and barrels from neighbouring fields would extend it further. Developing neighbouring fields together to share infrastructure and technical expertise is what SK Earthon calls its clustering strategy in the Cuu Long Basin ^[12].

Murphy Oil and PetroVietnam Exploration Production hold the other 40% and 35% of the block ^[8], so the partners in the joint-development plan are already the block's owners. We think the case rests mainly on Pink Camel, where a production test succeeded in May 2025 ^[10], and only weakly so far on North White Camel, which has a layer thickness and a depth. The company did not disclose a volume for North White Camel, the first well's rate or a development budget. The counter-case is the cluster's own logic: a small field tied into shared infrastructure can pay when it could not stand alone ^[12]. An appraisal showing a large volume would prove us wrong, and so would the partners developing North White Camel ahead of Pink Camel.

"We will continue expanding our operations through joint development of neighboring blocks and strengthen our position in Southeast Asia's energy exploration market," an SK Earthon official said ^[14]. On that account the next development money goes to tie-ins near a field that is now producing.