Essar Exploration & Production (EEPL) and ENI have established presence of gas and condensates at their offshore block in Vietnam, Essar said in a statement on Friday.

“Exploration well located at Block 114, Song Hong Basin, offshore Vietnam, has proven the presence of gas and condensate in the Ken Bau prospect,” the company said in its statement. It added,” The well result indicates a significant potential of the hydrocarbon accumulation.”

Eni Vietnam is the operator of the block with a 50 per cent share, and Essar holds the remaining 50 per cent share.

In its statement, the company said, “Ken Bau 1X well was plugged and abandoned ahead of the original plan due to certain technical issues, prior to reaching deeper levels that could hold significant additional resources. ENI is already planning to start a drilling campaign early next year to fully assess the substantial upside of the discovery.”

The Vietnam block is one of the three investments in the upstream oil and gas segment, in addition to a block in Nigeria and unconventional hydrocarbon acreages in India. Essar has invested $ 1.1 billion in this business.

Essar Oil won the Vietnam block in 2008 under a licensing round. In 2012, the company sold its 50 per cent interest in the Vietnam block to Eni, making it the operator.

ENI in a separate statement on the find, added “Ken Bau 1X results represent a significant breakthrough for evaluating the exploration potential in the Song Hong basin, where Eni Vietnam also operates with a 100% share in the neighboring Block 116.”