Murphy Oil Makes Southeast Asia’s Largest Oil Discovery in 20 Years
Murphy Oil has made what analysts describe as the largest oil discovery in Southeast Asia in the past two decades, offering Vietnam a rare chance to reverse a long-running decline in crude production.
The U.S.-based producer said its subsidiary successfully drilled the H?i S? Vàng-2X (HSV-2X) appraisal well in Block 15-2/17 in the C?u Long Basin, around 40 miles offshore Vietnam. According to Wood Mackenzie, the discovery ranks as the biggest regional oil find since the early 2000s.
The appraisal well encountered 429 feet of oil pay across two reservoirs and tested at 6,000 barrels per day of 37° API crude. Murphy has now revised its estimate of recoverable resources toward the upper end of the previously stated 170–430 million barrels of oil equivalent, with additional upside from shallower reservoirs yet to be fully appraised.
“In a predominantly gas-prone region, oil discoveries of this scale are exceptional,” said Angus Rodger, head of Asia-Pacific upstream analysis at Wood Mackenzie. He noted that HSV is the third-largest oil discovery in Southeast Asia since 2000, trailing only Indonesia’s Banyu Urip and Malaysia’s Gumusut fields.
For Vietnam, the discovery comes at a critical moment. National oil production has fallen sharply over the past two decades, sliding from around 365,000 barrels per day in 2005 to below 120,000 barrels per day in 2025, as mature fields declined and new discoveries failed to offset losses.
Murphy Oil CEO Eric Hambly called the result “a pivotal moment” for the company’s Vietnam portfolio, saying the success of HSV-2X confirms the commercial potential of the H?i S? Vàng field and supports a broader development program. Murphy plans further appraisal drilling at the HSV-3X and HSV-4X wells, both included in its $1.1–$1.3 billion 2026 capital expenditure plan.
Beyond boosting domestic output, the find could also reinvigorate exploration interest in Vietnam’s ongoing offshore licensing round, particularly in the mature but underexplored C?u Long Basin—demonstrating that sizeable oil discoveries remain possible even in well-known basins.