A sea route to northeast in the making
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Essar to explore Burma's onshore gas field
February 22, 2008: (Mizzima) Indian Oil Company, Essar, will start drilling the first test well in May at the onshore Block L gas field in Burma's western State of Arakan, the company's spokesperson said.
Essar Global Ltd., which has interest in energy, steel and telecommunications, will begin drilling a test well for exploration of natural gas in Block L under a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Burma.
Essar's spokesperson said, the company signed the PSC for both Black L and A 2, and work has commenced.
While Essar is the operator for both the blocks with a 100 percent Participating Interest (PI), the production is shared with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the spokesperson added.
Essar is one of the three Indian companies engaged in oil and gas exploration in Burma. The other two are Indian government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL), both of which has stakes in Block A-1 and A-3 of offshore gas fields in Arakan state.
The consortium led by Daewoo International Corporation of South Korea includes the ONGC and GAIL along with South Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS).
Burma, which is listed among the United Nations' Least Developed Countries (LDC) due to its military ruler's economic mismanagement, has an abundance of natural gas reserves, particularly in offshore areas.
Burma's gas fields including three
offshore and 19 onshore gas fields is estimated to have 89.722 trillion
cubic-feet (TCF) of recoverable reserve.
Reportedly, at least 13 foreign oil companies mainly from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia, are engaged in oil and gas projects in Burma.