OVL eyes 3 more Myanmar blocks

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) plans to bid for three more gas blocks in Myanmar for which bids may be called within a month. The company will be bidding for the blocks located in the south-western part of the country.

"We are looking for other blocks like AD-6 in Myanmar's deep waters to increase our participation," RS Butola, chairman and managing director, OVL, said. The other block the company may bid for is A-5.

Myanmar has emerged as a lucrative market for gas majors with 14 basins. Of these only three have been explored.

GAIL had recently announced that it has estimated reserves of 5.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF) to 10 TCF of natural gas in the three discovered gas fields of Shwe and Shwe Phyu in Block A-1, and Mya field in Block A-3 in Myanmar.

OVL is a part of the consortium of GAIL, Daewoo International Corporation and KOGAS that is carrying out exploration activities in Block A-1 and A-3 in Myanmar.

"It will be difficult to start production before 2010 as the appraisal work will take a few more months and developmental works will require 30-36 months," Butola added.