Far East: Myanmar

FAR EAST

Tony Sitathan, Contributing Editor, Singapore (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia and MTJDA)

Myanmar

Under the Ministry of Energy, the state oil company for upstream is the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which reportedly drills about 50 wells a year onshore. The country imports most of its crude demand. But offshore gas from its two new fields, Yadana and Yetagun, will supply both growing electrical power need and exports to Thailand, when the demand and infrastructure are developed.

Long considered a pariah state after more than 12 years of military rule under the Tatmadaw, Myanmar has been facing international protests over its human rights abuses.

Myanmar managed to produce 11,000 bpd of crude and condensate in 2000, up 19% from 1999. It also produced 500 MMcfd gas, according to MOGE. Foreign investment in first-half 2000, in the oil and gas sector in five projects, has improved to $52.8 million, from a total combined investment of over $2.3 billion for 50 projects.

Myanmar still imports close to 300,000 tons of crude and 100,000 to 150,000 tons of diesel annually, despite its propensity to increase production of crude by more than 10% since two years ago.

Premier Oil has announced production in its Yetagun field in offshore Myanmar. It currently provides around 70 MMcfd to the Thai gas company PTT. It intended to ramp up production to 200 MMcfd by mid-2000. The field has a life expectancy of nearly 20 years according to Premier. The reserve base of Yetagun is thought to be around 1.5 Tcf.