The Myanmar Ministry of Energy has announced which companies have been awarded contracts for its tender of onshore oil and gas blocks.
Petroleum Brunei, the Italian ENI, and the Canadian (but Singapore based) Pacific Hunt Energy Corporation, are among the winners. PTTEP, Petronas and MPRL, which all have interests in Myanmar, were awarded blocks, as well. Petronas, ENI, MPRL and Pacific Hunt Energy were each awarded 2 blocks. The awarded companies and related blocks were announced by the Ministry of Energy (MOE) on the 10th October, 2013, and the list was published on the Ministry’s website. There are a few interesting takeaways from the onshore awards, which can teach us something about the upcoming offshore round: Sixteen Winners Selected For Onshore Blocks
• Can a contractor be awarded more than one block? Clearly, yes. It seems that the Ministry looks at the bids that came in on a block per block basis. Whether one contractor ends up with more than one block is simply a matter of that contractor having the better bid for each one of those blocks.
• Existing players, such as PTTEP, Petronas and MPRL, have an edge over the newcomers. This is not a matter of policy from the Ministry. It is simply easier for contractors that already know Myanmar to propose a more aggressive bid. They are not troubled by as much uncertainty as newcomers are. We may see this again with the offshore round.
In January of 2013, the Myanmar Ministry of Energy (MOE), on behalf of the Myanmar Government, announced the invitation for sealed bids for Myanmar Onshore Blocks Second Bidding Round. The Round offered onshore blocks for Petroleum Operations to be conducted on a production sharing basis. A total of 18 onshore areas were offered, 15 Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) and 3 Improved Petroleum Recovery Contracts (IPR). Only 2 blocks from the 18 were not awarded, notably PSC M and IOR 3, due to a lack of bids.
The Ministry plans to invite sealed bids for the two remaining blocks, but details have not yet emerged as to schedule. A press release by the MOE stated that “the tender evaluation team led by the deputy minister scrutinised and gave a score to final proposals according to the selection criteria, such as exploration period, work schedules and expenses to be expended, production share ratios,experience of company, and signature bonus”.
