August 8: Myanmar has signed energy contracts with Thailand paving the way for Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production PCL to engage in oil and natural gas exploration in the country, state media reported Sunday.

In the presence of Myanmar Energy Minister Brig. Gen. Lun Thi and Thai Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej on Saturday, officials of the two countries signed production-sharing contracts for exploitation of oil and
natural gas at blocks M-3 and M-4 in the Gulf of Martaban by the state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and PTTEP, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Sunday.

The report gave no further details of the contracts, but according to PTTEP, blocks M-3 and M-4 have a combined area of about 18,000 square kilometers.

The two fields are located next to the Yadana field where PTTEP already holds a concession.

The two countries signed a similar agreement in November last year for blocks M-7 and M-9, which cover 27,000 square km in the same region.

Myanmar has a total of 25 offshore gas fields, with 11 in the Gulf of Martaban, seven off the Rakhine coast and six off the southern Taninthayi coast.

According to official estimates, Myanmar has 14 trillion cubic feet (about 400 billion cubic meters) of offshore natural gas reserves.

Myanmar currently exports 1 billion cubic feet (28 million cubic meters) of natural gas to Thailand everyday. About 40 percent of the country’s export earnings come from natural gas exports to Thailand.