PTTEP contracts Myanmar-Burma petroleum concessions

BANGKOK, Jan 5 –Thailand’s state-owned PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) on Thursday signed an agreement with Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) for an investment in Myanmar’s Zawtika M9 gas field.

PTTEP president and chief executive Anon Sirisaengtaksin said petroleum and natural gas production will start in 2013 with a production capacity of 300 million cubic feet/day, with 240 million cubic feet to be distributed to Thailand daily. MOGE holds a 20 per cent stake in the investment, he said.

Granted rights by Myanmar, PTTEP will also begin exploring the country’s two onshore oil blocks, EP2 and G, on Wednesday.

The Thai company is investing in neighbouring Myanmar to build ties between the nations and to secure energy for Thailand.

Mr Anon said PTTEP expects petroleum sales to rise to 290,000 barrels/day this year, an increase of 8 per cent. Petroleum sales volume were 265,000 barrels/day in 2011.

PTTEP current main production centre in the Greater Bongkot South project in the Gulf of Thailand will begin production in March at 300 million cubic feet/day, and its Australian Montara field will resume in either Q2 or Q3 at 30,000 barrels/day.

The firm began producing oil in the Vietnam 16-1 Project in Sept 2011, with full production capacity beginning this year at 30,000 barrels/day.

The company’s investment strategies include collaboration with the PTT Group in petroleum exploration and with partners such as Statoil to seek investment opportunities in the United States, South America and Africa, whereas the Browse LNG project in Western Australia and other investment sources in Thailand and Asian countries such as Malaysia also have PTTEP’s interest.

This year’s investment total was set at Bt150 billion, said Mr Anon, out of which Bt100 billion is for construction, Bt20 billion for drilling and exploration, and Bt30 billion for management.

PTTEP’s five-year investment plan reached a total of Bt600 billion, with Bt350 billion earmarked for construction. The company aims to produce oil at 900,000 barrels/day in 2020. (MCOT online news)

3 Killed in Yetagun Copter Crash

A helicopter hired by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas oil and gas company for work in Burma’s Yetagun offshore natural gas field crashed into the Andaman Sea at around 11 am on Monday, killing three people on board including a Burmese pilot, while 11 others, including a French pilot, have been saved.

The helicopter was owned by Paris-based Heli-Union. A commercial assistant at Heli-Union’s head office in Paris told The Irrawaddy when contacted on Monday that further details were not available.

Company sources in Rangoon said that the 11 people who survived the accident were hospitalized in the city.

Petronas owns a 30 percent stake in the Yetagun field, which is operated by Britain’s Premier Oil Plc. Thailand’s PTTEP International Ltd holds a 14.17 percent share, Japan’s Nippon Oil Exploration Ltd has a 14.17 percent share.

Fifteen percent is owned by Burma’s state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

Petronas is also involved in Burma’s other offshore natural gas fields alongside the Burmese-owned IGE Group of Companies’ UNOG. According to business reports in January 2010, Petronas and UNOG signed production-sharing contracts with Burma’s Ministry of Energy for deep-sea Blocks MD-4, MD-5 and MD-6 located in the Gulf of Martaban, south of Rangoon.

Zawtika gas project opens temporary base camp

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Zawtika natural gas project, a joint venture by the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and the state-owned PTTEP Oil Company of Thailand, opened a temporary base camp and office on January 22.

photo : MOGE

The opening ceremony of the administrative offices of the Zawtika project, which is in Block M-9 in the Gulf of Martaban offshore oilfield, was held near Kanbauk village in Yayphyu Township in Tanintharyi Division.

Energy Minister Lun Thi, the CEO of PTTEP, Anon Sirisaengtaksin, and foreign representatives attended, according to The New Light of Myanmar, a state-controlled newspaper. The camp includes residential areas, offices and meeting rooms.

PTTEP controls the oil and gas exploration concessions in M3, M4, M7, M9 and M11 in the Martaban gulf.

Thai Energy Minister Wannarat Chamnukul told The Nationnewspaper, the gas reserve in the M9 Block is estimated at 1.4 trillion cubic metres and daily production will be about 300 million cubic feet. Of that, about 240 million cubic feet will be exported to Thailand daily and the remaining 60 million cubic feet will be used in Burma.

Joint production work will start in 2013 and the reserves are expected to produce gas for up to 30 years, according to the joint agreement.

PTTEP is exploring and producing oil and gas in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Oman, Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, Australia and New Zealand.

The trade value between Thailand and Burma reached US$ 3.5 billion in 2009-10 fiscal year, a 16 percent increase over the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to official figures. Most of the trade is in the energy sector.

Beginning in 1998, Burmese gas reserves in the Yadana gas fields in the Gulf of Martaban began earning Burma money from foreign oil and gas companies including PTTEP, the French company, Total, and the US company, Chevron. A report by the US-based Earth Rights International in 2010 said that as much as half of the oil and gas earnings were deposited in private accounts in Singapore and China by Burmese generals.

Meanwhile, the junta has just signed a large investment and loan agreement, The New Light of Myanmar reported on January 28. It said a loan agreement with the Export Import Bank of China and the Finance and Revenue Ministry was signed on January 27 to fund construction work on the Naypyidaw International Airport Project Phase 2.

The signing ceremony was attended by SPDC Secretary (1) Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, the National Planning and Economic Development Minister Soe Tha and Finance and Revenue Minister Hla Tun.

The loan is part of a package that SPDC Chairman Than Shwe received from Chinese President Hu Jintao during a five-day visit in September 2010, granting Burma a loan of Chinese RMB 30 billion (US$ 4.2 billion) bearing no interest.

China and Burma are cooperating on many energy projects in Burma including hydropower projects and oil and gas pipeline projects which will transport oil and gas from Rakhine State on the western Burmese coast to Yunnan Province in southwest China.

View this document on Scribd

 

Signing of Gas Sales Agreement for Blocks M9 and a part of Block M11 by PTTEP

Signing of Gas Sales Agreement for Blocks M9 and a part of Block M11
29 Jul 10
PTTEP No. 20.910/195/2010

Finance Dept.
Tel.0-2537-4512, 0-2537-4611

July 29, 2010

President
The Stock Exchange of Thailand
62 Ratchadapisek Road, Klongtoey
Bangkok 10110

Dear Sir,

Subject:  Signing of Gas Sales Agreement for Blocks M9 and a part of Block M11

Reference is made to PTTEP International Limited (PTTEPI), a 100% owned subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), an operator and sole shareholder of blocks M9 and M11, located in the Gulf of Mataban, the Union of Myanmar.

PTTEP wishes to announce that on July 30, 2010, PTTEPI and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (the sellers) will sign the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) with PTT Public Company Limited (the buyer). The key issues under the GSA are in accordance with the Heads of Agreement, reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the letter of PTTEP no. 20.910/087/2008 dated June 23, 2008, under which total sales volume of gas from M9 and a part of Block M11 will be 300 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) (240 MMSCFD exported to Thailand and 60 MMSCFD supplied to the Union of Myanmar), The project is expected to start up its production in 2013.

This is another major achievement of PTTEP to expand production base in order to secure long term energy supply for the nation.

Yours sincerely,

Anon Sirisaengtaksin

Anon Sirisaengtaksin
President and Chief Executive Officer

Energy Insecurity: How Total, Chevron, and PTTEP Contribute to Human Rights Violations, Financial Secrecy, and Nuclear Proliferation in Burma (Myanmar)

View this document on Scribd