Kirkland Resources (Holdings) pic, Harpenden, England, has acquired the final block in the first allocation to foreign oil companies of exploration acreage in Myanmar, formerly Burma.
Kirkland subsidiary Kirkland Resources (Myanmar) Ltd. signed a joint venture exploration and production agreement with Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise covering an 11,000 sq km license area in the southeast part of the country.
Kirkland plans a 3 year, $4 million exploration program on Block J.
It is in an area of lowland valleys and paddy fields where there has been no previous exploration.
The government in Yangon, formerly Rangoon, has now completed allocation of the first nine blocks. Earlier tracts went to units of Yukong (South Korea), Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Idemitsu (Japan), Petro-Canada, Amoco Corp., Unocal Corp., Croft Exploration (U.K.), and BHP Petroleum (Australia).
A second allocation of four onshore blocks will be offered to foreign companies. In addition, the government is planning its first offshore licensing round.
Until the first licenses were awarded last year, foreign companies had been excluded from Myanmar for 26 years.
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