Woodside mulls Myanmar gas development options, plans further drilling

Woodside is considering development options on its two discoveries offshore Myanmar, as well as a 4-7 well drilling campaign next year, the firm said this morning. 

The plans, potentially involving tie-backs or even a standalone development, come as Woodside revealed the two discoveries, Shwe Yee Htun-1 and Thalin-1a, which were made late last year and earlier thus year, had helped increase its best estimate contingent resource (2C) offshore Myanmar by 83 MMboe to 4481 MMboe. 

Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said analysis of the exploratory well data confirms the development potential of both discoveries. A campaign totaling 4-7 wells is expected to start in Q1 2017, with an active drilling program also planned for 2018. 

“The logical development option for the Thalin-1A discovery is a tieback to the nearby Shwe dield,” Coleman said. “Our strategy is to fully appraise the discovery in one campaign, thereby facilitating concept select in 2017.”

Woodside's strides in Myanmar come only relatively recently since the country emerged from decades of sanction-drive isolation in 2012, after military rule ended in the country in 2010. An offshore licensing round was launched in 2013, with winners, including Woodside, Statoil, BG Group (now Shell), Ophir Energy, ConocoPhillips, Shell and others.

Shwe Yee Htun, in Block A-6, in the Rakhine Basin, in the Bay of Bengal, 54km offshore Myanmar, was drilled using the Deepwater Millennium drillship in 2000m water depth, just 7km from the edge of the continental shelf. It contains around 895 Bcf 2C resources, says Woodside.

The Shwe Yee Htun-1 discovery has both tieback and standalone development options, says Woodside, due to additional exploration potential in areas immediately adjacent to the discovery. As a tie-back, it could tie into the Yadana Gas Processing facility using existing technology.

Thalin-1A, in Block AD-7, also in the Bay of Bengal, 100km offshore, was drilled in 836m water depth, also using the Deepwater Millennium. Thalin contains 1510 Bcf 2C recoverable resources and could be a tie-back to the Shwe Central Processing Platform using existing technology, says Woodside.

The discoveries are in the Rakhine Basin, in the Bay of Bengal, where Woodside is one of the largest acreage holders, with interests in six blocks.

Read more

Twice lucky for Woodside off Myanmar 

Myanmar announces offshore winners 

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