Jan 3, 2007, 8:43 GMT
Bangkok - Thailand's state-run PTT Exploration and Production Company (PTTEP) has discovered a 'promising' natural gas reserve in Myanmar's Gulf of Martaban, the company announced on Wednesday.
Three tests of the natural gas reserve, discovered on December 4 in PTTEP's offshore concessions in Block M9, 300 kilometres south of Yangon, indicated a flow rate of 71.4 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).
'We will drill more exploration and delineation wells in the block this year to estimate the petroleum reserves and we look forward to preparing a development plan for future production,' said PTTEP President Maroot Mrigadat.
PTTEP is a subsidiary of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), the national petroleum company.
Thailand is both a major investor in petroleum exploration in Myanmar and the largest importer of Myanmar's natural gas, the country's main foreign exchange earner.
In 2005, PTT imported 62.75 billion baht (about 1.5 billion dollars) worth of natural gas from Myanmar's offshore reserves in the Gulf of Martaban. The gas, used primarily to generate electricity, is delivered by a pipeline from the offshore reserves to the Thai-Myanmar border.
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