By an OGJ correspondent
BANGKOK, Apr. 28 -- A TotalFinaElf-led consortium is again considering the development of Sein and Badamyar fields in the Gulf of Martaban to augment natural gas deliveries from adjacent Yadana field, all on Blocks M-5 and M-6 about 320 km south of Rangoon, Myanmar (OGJ Online, June 14, 2002).
Yadana has certified reserves of 5.7 tcf of gas, and the initial estimate of gas reserves at Sein is 200 bcf and at Badamyar, 500 bcf.
The consortium expects to drill two wells at Sein and four at Badamyar over the next 4-5 years. The $40 million cost of developing Sein field also includes a platform and an interfield pipeline.
In addition, the consortium has moved up installation of a medium compression platform at Yadana to this year from 2005, ramping up its maximum gas delivery to 850 MMcfd from 650 MMcfd to Myanmar and Thailand, especially for new electric power generation.
Most production is delivered via a pipeline extending 346-km offshore and 65-km onshore. Political extremists have bombed the gas line three times this year, charging Myanmar's military government with using proceeds from gas sales to purchase weapons for oppressing the country's people and charging the oil companies with complicity and supporting the military government in that pursuit (OGJ Online, Apr. 28, 2008).
Yadana deliveries
The consortium expects to raise the average Yadana gas sales to Thailand's PTT Plc this year to 638 MMcfd from 615 MMcfd recorded last year, especially to meet the growing gas demand for electric power generation.
Myanmar began taking 45 MMcfd of Yadana gas following the recent completion of a 20 km pipeline from the Daminseik coast in Mon state to a state-owned cement plant.
Myanmar previously had sought to increase Yadana gas deliveries to 75 MMcfd from 25 MMcfd, and there already is an agreement in place calling for as much as 125 MMcfd of gas to be supplied to Myanmar for domestic use.
Operator TotalFinaElf holds a 31.24% interest in Blocks M-5 and M-6, in which Yadana, Sein, and Badamyar are located. Other stakeholders are Unocal Corp. unit Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co. Ltd. 28.26%, Thailand's upstream state firm PTT Exploration & Production PLC subsidiary PTTEP International Ltd. 25.5%, and Myanmar's state oil company Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise 15%.