Australia’s Tap Oil Limited signed Wednesday a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the shallow water Block M-7 in the Moattama Basin, Myanmar, formally bringing to a close the 20 blocks awarded by the Ministry of Energy under the 2013 Myanmar Bid Round.
Tap Oil owns a 95 percent operating interest in Block M-7 through its local unit Tap Energy (M7) Pte Ltd., with joint venture partner Smart E&P International Company Ltd. holding the remaining 5 percent. The PSC was signed with state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in a ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw, Aug. 26.
Under the executed PSC, the Block M-7 partners have agreed to undertake an 18 month Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and Study Period, followed by an option to proceed to a three-year commitment exploration work program.
Tap Oil plans to spend around $2.75 million on Block M-7 up to and including the Study Period, which has a minimum expenditure requirement of $2 million. The Australian oil and gas exploration and production company may spend more before and during the Study Period.
“The inclusion of Block M-7 in Tap’s portfolio is in line with the Company’s Southeast Asian growth strategy, anchored by the flagship Manora Oil Development (in the Gulf of Thailand) that has been in production for nine months,” Tap Oil’s Managing Director/CEO Troy Hayden said in the press release Thursday.
Block M-7, covering 5,163 square miles (13,372 square kilometers), is situated in Myanmar’s most prolific offshore hydrocarbon province — the Moattama Basin, which has existing production from a number of multi-trillion cubic feet (Tcf) offshore fields. The block is located 99 miles (160 kilometers) east of the 6.5 Tcf Yadana gas field, and 43 miles (70 kilometers) north east of the 1.5 Tcf Zawtika gas field.
The last PSC signed under the 2013 Bid Round before the Block M-7 agreement was between MOGE and the joint venture for deepwater Block AD-10 comprising operator Statoil ASA and partner ConocoPhillips Co. in late April. Block AD-10 is a deepwater block located off Myanmar’s Rakhine coast.
Source: Rigzone