Total in Burma : the yadana pipeline project

Myanmar is one of the world's oldest oil producers, exporting its first barrel in 1853. Rangoon Oil Company, the first foreign oil company to drill in the country, was created in 1871. Between 1886 and 1963, the country's oil industry was dominated by Burmah Oil Company (BOC), which discovered the Ychaugyaung field in 1887 and the Chauk field in 1902. Both are still in production.

The oil and gas industry was nationalized after a socialist-leaning military regime seized power in 1962. As in many other countries, the State assumed ownership of the resources, either operating them itself or delegating this task to private operators, who were paid for their outlay and work in oil or gas under production sharing contracts (PSCs).

The linchpin of oil and gas policy in Myanmar is the Ministry of Energy, which has oversight for three state-owned enterprises:

			Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), created in 1963, is responsible for oil and gas exploration and production, as well as domestic gas transmission through a 1,200-mile onshore pipeline grid.
			Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE) operates three small refineries, four fertilizer plants and a number of other processing plants.
			Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE) is responsible for retail and wholesale distribution of petroleum products.

Since nationalization, the country's oil policy has gone through two distinct periods:

			From 1962 to 1988, oil exploration and production were mainly performed by MOGE; foreign operators were kept out by a strict nationalistic policy and the lack of an appropriate legal framework.
			In 1988, Myanmar passed foreign investment legislation and began relying on outside technology and capital to revive its oil and gas industry.

In 2007, nine foreign oil companies⁽¹⁾ are involved in 16 onshore blocks to explore new areas (EP blocks), to enhance recovery from existing fields (IOR blocks), to reactivate fields where production has been suspended (RFS blocks) and to produce (PSCs).

For the offshore area, Total, Petronas Carigali Myanmar, Daewoo, PTT-EP, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China National Petrochemical Corporation, Essar, Gail and Rimbunam (Malaysia) ONGC (India), Silver Wave Energy, Danford Equities (Australia), Sun Itera Oil & Gas (Russia) are exploring and/or developing 31 blocks.

It should be noted that Myanmar authorities intensified the opening of blocks to foreign companies since the end of 2004.

Myanmar’s oil output is small and gas is taking over from oil. Myanmar produces around 180, 000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 90% is accounted for by gas.

			Gas (mmscfd)				Oil + condensates (bpd)
	Onshore (2007)		110				8,000
	Offshore (2007)		Yadana: 758 Yetagun: 460				12,000 (condensates)

(1) Myanmar Petroleum Resources Ltd, Focus Energy Ltd, Westburne, China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China National Petrochemical Corporation, Sinopec, Essar, Goldpetrol and a representative of the Kalmik republic