Myanmar, Russia to jointly explore oil, gas

YANGON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) A Myanmar's oil company and a Russian one will jointly explore oil and gas in two onshore areas in Myanmar, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported today. brAccording to a production sharing contract signed last weekend between the state-operated Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and the Closed Joint Stock Oil Company Nobel Oil of the Russian Federation, the exploration will be done in Hukaung and U-ru regions. brOther three Russian oil companies have been engaged in oil and gas exploration in Myanmar under respective contracts since 2006. The first, which is JSC Zarubezhneft Iteraaws along with the Sun Group of India, has been exploring oil and gas at block M-8 lying in the Mottama offshore area. brThe other two Russian companies-Silver Wave Sputnik Petroleum Pte Ltd and the Silver Wave Energy Pte Ltd of Kalmykia have been drilling Zeebyutaung test well-1 at the inland block B- 2 in Pinlebu township of northwestern Sagaing division under similar contract reached in March 2007. brThere has been seven foreign companies operating onshore, including Essar Oil Ltd, Focus Energy Ltd, MPRL Exploration and Production Private Ltd, Goldpetrol, CNOOC, Sinopec Oil Company and Chinerry Assests, according to statistics. brThere exists 19 onshore oil fields in Myanmar including Yenangyaung, Ayadaw, Chauk, Myanaung, Mann, KyaukkhwetLetpando, Htaukshabin, Kanni and Nyaungdon. brCurrently, 13 foreign oil companies, mainly from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia, are involved in oil and gas projects in Myanmar, according to official sources.