Gas has been discovered at a deep water exploration well in Block A-6 of the Southern Rakhine Basin and tested to be flowing at 50 million cubic feet per day

Gas has been discovered at a deep water exploration well in Block A-6 of the Southern Rakhine Basin in the Bay of Bengal, according to government officials and statements made by operators of the block. Gas was tested to be flowing at 50 million cubic feet per day.

Test drilling began at the Pyi Thit-1 appraisal well on June 10. The well, which is located in the south of Rakhine and approximately 90 kilometers west of Pathein, Ayeyarwady, was drilled to depths of 4,570 meters on July 15. A 63-meter column of gas was discovered at 3,542 meters.

Following a drill stem test performed across a 29 meter section of the column, gas was found to flow at 50 million cubic feet per day.

A press statement was made after Union Minister for Electricity and Energy and Construction U Win Khaing and Ayeyarwady Chief Minister U Mahn Johnny visited the Pyi Thit-1 well.

The discovery at Pyi Thit-1 comes after two other gas discoveries were made at Block A-6. The first well, Pyi Thar-1, was drilled in March 2012 in water depths of 200 meters. The second well, Shwe Yee Htun-1, was drilled in 2015 across a 5 km surface area and in water depths of 2,034 meters. Up until the drilling of Pyi Thit-1, Shwe Yee Htun-1was the deepest well ever drilled in Myanmar waters.

A third gas discovery has been made at Block A-6 in Southern Rakhine. Photo - MPRL E&P

“This is the third successful well drilled in Rakhine Offshore Block A-6. It may boost the supply of much-needed natural gas for the nation,” said MPRL E&P CEO U Moe Myint. He added that the Pyi Thit-1 discovery could lead to even more undiscovered gas reserves in Myanmar’s waters.

MPRL E&P, an independent oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company focusing on upstream E&P projects in Myanmar, is a joint operator of Block A-6. It has a 20 per cent stake in the block under a Production Sharing Contract with the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise in 2007.

Australia’s Woodside Energy (Myanmar) Pte Ltd holds a 40 pc stake in Block A-6 and is the joint operator of the block and operator of the Pyi Thit-1 well. The remaining 40 pc is held by French national oil company Total E&P Myanmar.

After conducting a plug-and-abandon operation at the Pyi Thit-1 appraisal well, the Transocean drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 will be moved to another location in Block A-6, where it will drill a fourth exploratory well, the Pyi Thar Yar-1, this month, according to MPRL E&P.

Following the recent gas discovery, more exploratory and appraisal wells will be drilled in Block A-6. Once the gas reserves have proven to be commercially productive, drilling of development wells will commence, The Myanmar Times understands.

(The Myanmar Times: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/27156-gas-discovered-at-block-a-6-offshore-well-in-southern-rakhine.html )

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