Indian, Singapore firms sign Myanmar energy deals

YANGON, Dec 8 (Reuters) Myanmar's national petroleum company and Indian and Singaporean firms have signed a deal to search for off-shore oil and gas in the military-ruled southeast Asian nation, official media said today.

Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise will team up with India's state-owned GAIL and Silver Wave Energy of Singapore to explore Block A-7 off the southernmost coast of the former Burma's Rakhine state, the Kyemon daily said.

The trio signed a contract to share ''exploration, drilling and production of oil and gas in Block A-7'', the paper said without giving any further details.

As part of a consortium led by South Korea's Daewoo International Corporation, GAIL owns 10 percent of Block A-1, the biggest proven gas reserves in Myanmar, also located off the Rakhine coast.

According to an assessment by Houston-based consulting firm Ryder Scott, A-1 is thought to have commercial gas reserves of 2.88 to 3.56 trillion cubic feet.

Myanmar's three energy-hungry neighbours, India, China and Thailand, have been bidding to buy A-1 gas.

According to government data, Myanmar produced 375 billion cubic feet of gas and 7.5 million barrels of oil in the 2004/05 fiscal year (April/March). Most of the gas was exported to Thailand, generating revenues of more than $1 billion.

REUTERS MS RK1116