The History of Oil Exploration in the Union of Myanmar

Abstract

The Union of Myanmar (nee Burma) has had oil exploration since the first hand-dug wells were drilled in the Central Burma basin around 900 BC. In 1755, when Myanmar was part of the British colonial empire of India, early British soldier-diplomats visited some of the hand-dug wells in the Central Burma Basin, located in the vicinity of Yenangyaung. In 1886 the British colonial Rangoon Oil Company, registered in Scotland, was organized, which later became the foundation of the storied Burmah Oil Company. Burmah drilled the first cable tool wells in 1889 in Yenangyaung, which resulted in the “discovery” of Yenangyaung Oil Field. From 1886–1901, Burmah Oil Company held a colonial monopoly in the country, until the Standard Oil gained the first lease in 1901. As the Japanese were invading, seeking a source of oil, British troops destroyed all producing wells. After the end of WWII Burmah Oil Company enjoyed an exclusive monopoly on exploration until the Union Oil Company and General Exploration Company combine obtained a huge lease for most of the Central Burma Basin outside of Burmah's producing fields in 1961 and began field work to assess how to proceed with their exploration efforts. With the nationalization of the oil industry in 1963, Burmah Oil and Union Oil lost their leases, and the newly formed state oil company, later called the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) assumed all operations. MOGE successfully delineated the older fields and found smaller fields from their own exploration. In 1988, the government opened oil and gas exploration to foreign oil companies, and Unocal again acquired a huge block in the same location. Many other companies explored the country during this first foreign involvement, but only Shell tested any significant petroleum. In 1992, TOTAL acquired a previously-discovered 3DA gas field in offshore Burma in the Irrawaddy Delta, later called Yadana Gas Field. Total was joined by Unocal Corporation as a partner. This gas field continues to produce today, with well over 5 TCF of recoverable reserves. Texaco, Premier Oil and Nippon Oil discovered the Yetagun Gas Field in 1992, and it began production in 2000. In 2000 Daewoo International acquired exploration acreage in Western Myanmar offshore, where they discovered nearly 5 TCF of gas in the Shwe Project. Other exploration efforts, both onshore and offshore, have not yielded economic success to date, but the long saga of oil and gas exploration in Myanmar continues.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90217 © 2015 International Conference & Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia, September 13-16, 2015