Majors Start to Take Interest in Myanmar

Major international operators have started to take a more serious look at Myanmar’s oil and gas potential in a new raft of licence awards.

Ten deepwater and 10 shallow water exploration blocks were awarded in the country’s 2013 Offshore Bid Round, which saw senior companies including BG Group, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Ophir, Shell, Statoil, Total and Woodside take stakes. Asian interest came from India’s Reliance Industries and Oil India, although they stuck to the shallows.

Shell Myanmar won three deepwater blocks, BG Asia working with Woodside gained two, as did Eni Myanmar, while Ophir, Statoil and Total gained one each.

BG said it will operate the AD2 block with a 55% interest in partnership with Woodside. This covers 8,098 (3,125 sq miles) with water depths of up to 2,300 m (7,544 ft).

Block AD 5 will be the opposite way round in terms of ownership, with Woodside the operator with 55%, and BG holding 45%. The block lies in the Rakhine Basin in the western offshore area of Myanmar and covers 10,560 sq km (4,076 sq miles), with water depths ranging up to 2,600m (8,528 ft).

Shell secured three deepwater blocks, AD9, AD11 and MD5, while Eni collected MD 2 and 4.

Statoil is to operate AD 10 partnered by ConocoPhillips, and Total’s deepwater block is designated YWB.

Statoil says its operated AD 10 block covers 9,000 sq km (3,474 sq miles) and has water depths up to 2,000 m (6,560 ft). Statoil and ConocoPhillips hold 50% equity each. “This is a large and virtually unexplored area in a basin with a proven petroleum system and thick sedimentary deposits,” said Erling Vågnes, Statoil’s senior vice president for Eastern Hemisphere exploration. “With this award, we have accessed at scale in another frontier acreage with significant upside, in line with our exploration strategy,” he said, noting that Myanmar is new exploration territory for the company. The Norwegian group aims to acquire new 2-D seismic data in a first two-and-a half year study period before committing to a further 3-year exploration term.

Ophir won AD3, with chief executive Nick Cooper remarking that this was the company’s first non-African award: “The licensing round was highly competitive with several major oil companies being awarded blocks adjacent to ours,” he noted, adding: “Whilst this is our first licence award outside of Africa, it is in keeping with our strategy of focusing on acquiring deepwater acreage with large footprints and significant running room.”

Ophir’s new acreage covers approximately 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) and like BG, the territory is in the Rakhine basin, although Ophir says its license is on trend with the multi-Tcf Shwe gas field. Initial exploration will involve reprocessing existing 2-D seismic data and 3-D acquisition.

Myanmar Bidding Round 2013: Deepwater

(Source: Myanmar Ministry of Energy)