I think the biggest opportunity is Myanmar. Recently the Myanmar government awarded 17 blocks to a variety of national oil companies and there is already a very successful gas development,” George Horsington, president of business development for Jaya Holdings told the Sea Asia Offshore Marine Forum.
The country already has pipelines connecting to China and Thailand.
“But I think this only the beginning for Myanmar…if you look at the number of wells drilled in Myanmar offshore waters its negligible,” he said.
As result of decades of rule by a military junta and international sanctions almost no deepwater wells have been drilled and very few shallow water wells.
“But its going to take a while as the blocks have only just been awarded so we are looking at three years of seismic work before we really see drilling ramped up, in 2017 and 2018,” Horsington added.
Developments have taken longer than some had expected and an expectation from analysts Douglas-Westwood that the number of wells drilled would increase from 13 – 15 to around 35 in an 18-month period fell short at about 25.
“Obviously part of these delays are due to the lack of infrastructure and energy policy from the Myanmar government,” said Jason Waldie, associate director, Douglas-Westwood.
Looking at the future of the country’s energy policy he said: “Does it go the way of Vietnam which is somewhat difficult to do business in, or Indonesia which is again somewhat more difficult to business, or does it go the way the as it matures as an industry as say Malaysia which is somewhat easier to do business with?”
Horsington said he felt Thailand was a natural role model and noted strong ties with the Thai national oil company PTT, and strong cultural ties with the neigbouring country.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
