Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A natural gas well with a production capacity of 2.1 million cubic feet per day has been found in Pale Township in Monywa District, Sagaing Division, the state-run newspaper The Mirror reported on Monday.
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and its partner Sinopec International Exploration and Production Corporation (SIPC) found natural gas at Thingadon Test-well No. (1), which is located about 10 miles to the east of Kyaw Village in Pale Township in the Mahutaung Region.Officials said the well had a production capacity of 2.1 million cubic feet of natural gas per day when the sand layer was explored at a 6,972-7,000 feet depth, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper said that Minister for Energy Lun Thi inspected Thingadon Test-well No. 1 on Monday, accompanied by Deputy Minister U Than Htay and officials of SIPC.
A teacher in Pale Township told Mizzima that although the effect of the discovery of natural gas on the township was unknown at this time, some residents in the area feared their land could be confiscation in the future for more exploration wells.
‘They are regularly exploring for oil and natural gas. I don’t think that the natural gas found in our region will decrease unemployment here, but if they extend their project, there could be land confiscations from local farmers’, the teacher said. Seasame, mung bean, pegion pea, cotton and maize are grown in the region.
The Mahutaung Region is close to another well, the Pahtolon test-well, in Magway Division. The Pahtolon region has an estimated 909 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 7.6 million barrels of condensate, the New Light of Myanmar reported on January 6, 2011.
China’s Sinopec International Petroleum (Myanmar) has had a production sharing contract with MOGE since September 3, 2004, to extract natural gas from the Pahtolon area.
In the energy sector, China and Thailand are the largest investors in Burma. Companies from Australia, Britain, Canada, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam have also invested in the energy sector.
Since 1988, after making contracts with foreign oil and natural gas companies, Burma has explored 49 onshore sites and 26 offshore blocks off Arakan and Mon states and Taninsarim Division.
Since 1988, the total foreign investment in the oil and gas sector has totaled US$ 13.5 billion, according to official data.
Burma’s natural gas reserves doubled in the past decade to 570 billion cubic meters, about one-fifth of Australia's, according to the BP Statistical Review.
