Myanmar releases new offshore acreages

Director General of the Energy Department U Soe Myint said out of the eight new offshore blocks, three  have been awarded to Chinese state-owned CNPC and Daewoo International, while negotiations are underway to award three others to an Indian explorer and one other block to an Australian company.

Myint did not identify the Indian explorer or outline the details of the blocks awarded to CNPC and Daewoo. However, India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary M S Srinivasan on Aug. 23 told a news agency on the sideline of ASEAN Energy Ministers Meeting in Singapore that India's state-owned ONGC Videsh is about to sign a production sharing contract for three deepwater blocks located in the Gulf of Mataban in Yangon soon.

Earlier reports also said Daewoo will explore for gas in a new block near its the 5.7 Tcf gas find off Myanmar's Arakan coast while CNPC was awarded production sharing contracts for three new oil and gas blocks off the western Myanmar coast. Myint also said Myanmar will be offering 14 more deepwater blocks for new investors. Companies interested in exploring for oil and gas are invited to contact the Energy Ministry for further details.

Each production sharing contract will carry an exploration permit of up to 25 years in the assigned acreage, with seismic and drilling programs expected to be proposed and conducted during each three-year period.