Woodside in new gas discovery at A-6 block offshore Myanmar

Australia’s Woodside has made a new gas discovery at the A-6 block in the Southern Rakhine Basin offshore Myanmar.

Total holds a 40% interest in A-6 block, alongside Woodside Energy (40%, technical joint operator for exploration and appraisal operations) and MPRL E&P (20%, joint operator). Total is to take over operatorship in the development phase.

In a statement on Monday Total said that the JV has completed a major step towards confirming a commercial project through a successful appraisal of the A-6 block Shwe Yee Htun-2 discovery.

According to the French company, the well was drilled to a final depth of 4,820 meters and encountered 40 meters of net gas pay in a high quality reservoir. Preliminary tests confirm good reservoir quality, permeability and well production deliverability.

The Shwe Yee Htun-2 adds to the Shwe Yee Htun-1 (2016) and Pyi Thit-1 (2017) gas discoveries made earlier on the Block. The cumulated resources are evaluated in the range of 2 to 3 Tcf.

Arnaud Breuillac, President Exploration & Production at Total, said: “This new discovery on A-6 block is a major step towards unlocking new gas reserves in an area closely located to the fast growing regional markets. Total’s track record of Myanmar’s Yadana gas field exploitation is a key asset to lead these discoveries to commercial development.”

Total E&P Myanmar (TEPM) is the operator (31.2%) of the M5 and M6 blocks on the Yadana offshore gas field, on stream since 1998. The production from M5 and M6 blocks currently supplies half of Myanmar’s gas consumption and around 12% of gas consumed by neighboring Thailand.

In 2017, TEPM has started up production from the Badamyar project, which enables an extension of the Yadana gas field’s production plateau beyond 2020.

In a separate statement on Tuesday Woodside said that the gas column has been confirmed through wireline logging and pressure measurements, which have also demonstrated that the intersected reservoir is highly likely to be in pressure communication with the Shwe Yee Htun-1 discovery, which is approximately 10 km east of the current drilling location. The minimum total gross gas column based on wireline pressure data from both wells is now estimated to be approximately 237 m.

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said: ““The well has encountered good quality reservoir, with a gas column at the high-end of our pre-drill estimates. We look forward to completing detailed analysis of the well results.

“The results are encouraging and we hope that the resources in the permit can contribute energy that will support Myanmar’s future economic development,” he said.