Thai oil company finds more gas in Myanmar offshore areas
Xinhua / July 11, 2007

The PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Public Co Ltd of Thailand has found commercial gas deposit at one more test well at Block M-9 in Myanmar's Mottama offshore area, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.

The gas was found at the Zawtika-5 test well, which is the 7th gas-yielding test well and can produce 38.36 million cubic-feet (MCF) or 1.08 million cubic-meter (MCM) of gas per day from up to a depth of 7,414 feet or 2,224 meters and 33 MCF or 0.934 MCM from up to a depth of 5,199 feet or 1,559 meters, the report said.

"The finding of the gas deposit in Block M-9 offshore Mottama is excellent potential for further drilling," the report said, estimating that the Zawtika-5 well will be able to produce 8 trillion cubic-feet (TCF) of gas or 226.5 billion cubic-feet.

The report described the gas deposit discovery as being similar to that in three Yadana, Yetagun and Shwe fields previously explored and developed.

The PTTEP had found large natural gas deposit at six test wells -- Zawtika-1, Gawthaka-1, Karkonna-1, Zawtika-2, Zawtika-3 and Zawtika-4 at the same block since 2005.

Natural gas at the block is planned for both domestic demand and export to Thailand and the production is said to formally start in the year 2011 or 2012, according to earlier reports.

The PTTEP has already been engaged in four other gas projects in Myanmar in blocks M-7, M-3, M-4 and M-11 in the same Mottama offshore area.

Myanmar has abundance of natural gas resources especially in the offshore areas. With three main large offshore oil and gas fields and 19 onshore ones, Myanmar has proven recoverable reserve of 18.012 TCF or 510 billion cubic-meters (BCM) out of 89.722 TCF or 2.54 trillion cubic-meters (TCM)'s estimated reserve of offshore and onshore gas, experts said.

The country is also estimated to have 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserve, official statistics indicate.

The Myanmar figures also show that in the fiscal year 2005-06, the country produced 7.962 million barrels of crude oil and 11.45 BCM of gas. Gas export during the year went to 9.138 BCM, earning over 1 billion U.S. dollars.

In the first three quarter of 2006-07 which ended in March, Myanmar produced 5.822 million barrels of crude oil and 9.819 BCM of gas, indicate the latest statistics which also showing that gas export during the period went to 8.124 BCM, gaining 1.24 billion dollars.

Other statistics reveal that foreign investment in Myanmar's oil and gas sector had reached 2.769 billion dollars as of the end of 2006 since the country opened to such investment in late 1988, standing the second in the country's foreign investment sectorally after electric power.

Currently, 13 foreign oil companies, mainly from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia, are operating 33 onshore and offshore projects in Myanmar, official sources disclosed.