Energy firms with permission to conduct offshore oil and gas exploration activities in Myanmar will have their contracts cancelled next year if they do not progress from the initial study period to actual exploration, sources from the Ministry of Electricity and Energy told The Myanmar Times. The contracts will be rescinded if these firms do […]
Indonesia’s Wintermar expands into Myanmar
Offshore vessel services (OVS) firm Wintermar Offshore Marine is seeking to expand to other Southeast Asian countries to cope with the decline in oil and gas activities in Indonesia, the company’s executive has said. President director Sugiman Layanto said that his company was exploring the opportunity to operate in Myanmar, Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam to […]
ConocoPhillips and Statoil sign deal for deepwater block
Norway’s Statoil and US-based ConocoPhillips will invest more than US$300 million in the exploration and production of offshore oil and gas in Myanmar, according to an official from the Ministry of Energy (MOE). The two international oil companies signed a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for deepwater block AD-10, located off Myanmar’s Rakhine coast, on April […]
Former Norway Envoy’s Telenor Move Raises Eyebrows
The May 16 announcement that Norway’s former ambassador to Myanmar, Katja Nordgaard, will soon take a position with Telenor, the majority state-owned Norwegian telecommunications firm that signed a lucrative deal with Myanmar’s government last year, has prompted concern from some quarters about the ethics of what they see as just the latest example of an […]
Myanmar’s oil and gas boom fuels services scramble
YANGON — As economic and political changes brewed in Myanmar four years ago, Yadana Su Hlaing decided it was time to return home after a decade studying and working overseas to help run Smart Technical Services, the Yangon-based oil and gas support services company founded by her father, K.K. Hlaing. Her timing could not have […]
Norway looks to Thai gateway to Myanmar
Norway aims to turn Thailand, its seventh-biggest trading partner in Asia, into a gateway for its businesses and investments in Myanmar, according to top Norwegian officials. Last week, the Nordic country launched its fifth annual “Norway-Asia Business Summit” in Bangkok, which was followed by a similar event in Yangon, as both Thailand and Myanmar are […]
Myanmar Awards Offshore Oil and Gas Deals to Foreign Firms
YANGON — Myanmar’s Ministry of Energy on Wednesday announced that it has awarded international firms, mostly from Western nations, 20 areas in its waters to explore for oil and gas. The government has invited international firms to come in and help bolster state revenues by tapping into Myanmar’s oil and gas reserves, and large multinationals […]
Deutsche says Myanmar is “potentially exciting” frontier play
Offshore Myanmar, where Ophir Energy (LON:OPHR) this week staked its first non-African acreage, is a potentially exciting frontier play, according to Deutsche Bank. Analyst Lucas Herrmann highlights it has proven hydrocarbon potential both onshore and more recently via two gas developments, Schwe & Mya, in the shallow offshore. Ophir was among a group of major […]
Energy giants win Myanmar offshore oil and gas blocks
YANGON: Myanmar named energy giants Chevron, Shell and Total among the winners Wednesday of a landmark auction of offshore oil and gas exploration rights, pinning hope on its natural resources to drive economic growth. The country, left impoverished by nearly five decades of isolation under military rule, has been the subject of feverish interest by […]