Daewoo plans to drill eight wells on Myanmar blocks
Daewoo is set to begin a drilling programme at offshore Myanmar exploration blocks A-1 and A-3, where OVL and GAIL together have 30% in each block.
Daewoo has already submitted plans to drill eight exploration-cum-appraisal wells to authorities in Yangon. Six of these well will be firm and two will be contingent, says a source.
Seven wells will be drilled on A-1 and one on A-3. The first well should be spud later this month.
Daewoo has hired two rigs. One is the semi-submersible Nanhai-II owned by Chinas CNOOC and the other is the semi-submersible Galaxy Driller.
Galaxy Driller was to reach location around 15th December (Thursday) on A-1 while Nanhai-II is expected around 25th December on A-3. Water depths at both blocks are between 100 and 150 metres and the target will be Pliocene-era sediment at around 3300 metres.
At A-1, one exploration well will be on the (new) Shwe-east structure while the others will be around the Shwe-Phyu and Ngwe prospects. We also learn Daewoo has hired Houston consultants Ryder Scott Company to carry out third party certification of the gas reserves at the Shwe prospect.
The contract was signed in October and Ryder Scott began work in the first week of November, we are told. The certification will be completed in February.
Once Ryder Scotts figures are in hand, the A-1 consortium and Myanmar authorities will approach potential buyers in Thailand, India, Bangladesh and China. Myanmar is now examining how to best utilise A-1 gas.
Three options are under consideration: use it within the country for new power projects or industries; export it through a pipeline to one of the regional markets; or convert it to LNG for export. KOGAS, which has a 10% participating interest in A-1, has already offered to set up a liquefaction facility to export LNG from the field.
In November, Daewoo hired Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants of the UK and Technip of France to jointly suggest options and prepare a market study for development of A-1. The finished report is expected by April or May next year.
