Woodside signs new joint venture in Burma

Woodside will buy into a block in the Rakhine Basin.

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Woodside Petroleum has sealed a second oil and gas exploration deal in Myanmar as it works to expand internationally beyond its large but costly liquefied natural gas projects in Australia.

The Perth-based energy producer said it has concluded a deal with Myanmar-based MPRL covering a 50 per cent interest in block A-6 in in deep waters off the coast of Myanmar.

The contract covers a 3D seismic survey and an option for future drilling. The two companies will also consider jointly bidding in future deepwater bid rounds.

Woodside sealed a deal last month to buy into an exploration venture also in the Rakhine Basin with South Korea's Daewoo International.

It has also bid for an exploration permit off Cyprus and has struck a deal worth up to $US1.3 billion to buy into a huge deep-water gas field off Israel.

Woodside will buy 30 per cent in the offshore Leviathan field, joining a Noble Energy-run venture that expects to give the go-ahead next year for a domestic gas project in Israel.

Woodside's previous overseas ventures have historically ended in disappointment, including its forays into Mauritania, Kenya and Libya, all of which it has now exited.

Last month Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman said it was also considering opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico.

"It's in the mature bucket of things we are doing," he said. "We have a drilling program that will continue to next year. Like everyone we are continuing to look to see [if] can we actually grow in the Gulf of Mexico, and if we do, at what pace?"

The latest Myanmar deal illustrates Mr Coleman's strategy of hunting opportunities overseas in emerging world-class petroleum regions where the company can make the most of its skills.

Mr Coleman has previously said he sees the company's international opportunities as complementary to Woodside's other main LNG growth projects: the Browse venture, Sunrise in the Timor Sea and the expansion of the $15 billion Pluto LNG project.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2012/12/10/woodside-signs-new-joint-venture-in-burma-3/