LONDON: Premier Oil Plc, a U.K. oil company, is targeting

LONDON: Premier Oil Plc, a U.K. oil company, is targeting
drilling in the second half of 2005 in newly acquired Vietnamese
offshore blocks, which includes territory that was disputed with
Indonesia until last year.

Premier this year bought the rights to two blocks in
Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea, as well as two others
over which sovereignty was disputed for 25 years until an accord
on the sea boundary was signed during a June 2003 visit to Hanoi
by Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The Vietnamese areas are geologically similar to Indonesia's
West Natuna where fields, in which Premier invested, are
producing about 235 million cubic feet of gas and 12,000 barrels
of oil per day, according to Robin Allan, director of business
development for the London-based company. -- Bloomberg