BG, Woodside begin Myanmar seismic

Norwegian company PSG Group will start 3D-seismic acquisition at four blocks in Rakhine Basin offshore Myanmar as soon as vessels Ramform Titan and Ramform Sovereign arrive this Saturday.

The vessels will survey the A-4 and AD-2 blocks, operated by UK multinational BG Group – recently acquired by Shell in a deal expected to conclude early 2016 – and the A-7 and AD-5 blocks operated by Australia’s Woodside Energy. The seismic campaign is scheduled for completion in April 2016.

Surveying activities at the blocks operated by BG and Woodside will likely take between three and four years before early development begins.

In October, Shell partnered with Japanese company Mitsui Oil Exploration to survey several blocks in the Rakhine Basin, with plans to invest $1.2 billion to bring deepwater blocks AD-9, AD-11 and MD-5 on line in the next eight years.

Myanmar – a relatively new frontier for oil and gas exploration activities – produced 20,000 barrels of oil per day in 2013. This is expected to slide to 17,000 in 2023, despite the auction of 20 blocks to international companies in 2013.