Block A-6 Development

Block A-6 is located in the Bay of Bengal offshore Myanmar. Credit: MPRL E&P.

Block A-6 lies in water depths between 50m and 2,500. Credit: MPRL E&P.

The first appraisal well was drilled by Transocean's drill-ship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2. Credit: MPRL E&P.

First gas from Block A-6 development is expected in 2025. Credit: MOI.

Block A-6 is the first ultra-deep-water development located in the Bay of Bengal offshore Myanmar.

The production sharing contract (PSC) for the gas block development was signed between MPRL E&P and Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the petroleum industry regulator in Myanmar, in January 2007.

The block is jointly owned by Total (40%), Woodside Energy (40%) and MPRL E&P (20%). Woodside is the operator for the exploration and appraisal phase along with MPRL E&P. Total will operate the block during the development phase.

The companies signed fiscal agreements in December 2019 to move the Block A-6 development into the pre-front-end engineering design (pre-FEED) phase. They expect the completion the front-end engineering and design (FEED) by mid-2020 and first gas in 2025.

They estimate the block to hold 67 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) and to have a production rate of 60 million standard cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of gas.

Block A-6 location

Block A-6 is located in the Rakhine Basin of the Bay of Bengal. It is located offshore the Ayeyarwady region, at a distance of 80km west of the City of Pathein.

The block lies in water depths ranging between 50m and 2,500m and covers an area of 9,830km^². The eastern region of the block lies in shallow waters with water depths of up to 300m and the western region lies in an ultra-deep water environment in water depths ranging between 2,000m and 2,500m.

Block A-6 discovery and exploration

The Pyi Thar-1 well encountered gas in the block in March 2012. It stands in water depths of 211m, reaching a total depth of 1,398m.

The sidetracked Pyi Thar-1ST well encountered 6m of net gas in good quality sandstones. Both the wells were abandoned as planned.

An exploration well, Shwe Yee Htun-1, was drilled in 2015. It targeted a prospect over 5km from the surface in water depths of 2,034m. The drilling of the well to a total depth of 5,306m confirmed the presence of a gross gas column of 130m and 33m of net gas pay.

Block A-6 appraisal details

The block’s first appraisal well, Pyi Thit-1, was spud in June 2017. Transocean’s Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2 drill-ship drilled the well and reached a total depth of 4,570m in water depths of 2,005m.

Another appraisal well, Pyi Tharyar-1, was spud in August 2017 in water depths of 2,449m, reaching a total depth of 3,280m. This represents the deepest water depth in the history of the petroleum industry of Myanmar. The well encountered 3m of gas-bearing sands.

The Shwe Yee Htun-2 appraisal well spudded in July 2018. Transocean drilled it down-dip from the Shwe Yee Htun-1 and reached a total depth of 4,850m in water depths of 2,325m. It showed presence of 41m of net gas in a 143m gross gas column. The well achieved a flow rate of 50mmcfd of gas during a drill stem test.

A total of five wells now exist at the block since the drilling of the Shwe Yee Htun-2 appraisal well.

Block A-6 development plan

The development concept for the block involves drilling of ten ultra-deep-water wells. Phase one will include drilling of six wells while phase two will drill up to four additional wells.

The wells will reach water depths ranging between 2,000m and 2,300m. They will link to a subsea gathering system connected to a shallow water processing platform.

A 240km export pipeline will be used to export the gas to a riser platform located adjacent to the existing Yadana platform complex. It will then travel to Myanmar and Thailand through existing pipeline infrastructure.