Twenty-one companies have dropped out of the final cycle of bidding in the Myanmar offshore license round, Reuters news service reported on Friday.
The licensing round offers 30 offshore areas, including 11 shallow water blocks and 19 deepwater blocks.
The shallow water blocks are in three areas: Rakhin (3 blocks), Moattam (3 blocks), and Tanintharyi (5 blocks). The deepwater blocks are predominantly in the Rakhine Offshore Area (12 blocks), followed by Tanintharyi (4 blocks), and Moattam (3 blocks).
The Myanmar Ministry of Energy (MOE) announced the Myanmar Offshore Blocks First Bidding Round for production-sharing contracts (PSCs) on 11 April 2013.
Myanmar reported that 79 companies participated in the first stage, declaring their interest by 14 June. Among the IOCs were Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Eni, Exxon Mobil Corp., Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Statoil, Total SA.
A large number of NOCs also registered interest, including China National Petroleum Corp.; India's ONGC Videsh, GAIL, OIL and Reliance Industries; Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp.; Korea National Oil Corp., Korea Gas Corp.; Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas); and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP).
In August, the Myanmar Ministry of Energy prequalified 61 companies to bid.
In late September, the Ministry announced that companies preparing bids could suggest their own terms for profit sharing with the government. This move away from the "standard terms" of PSCs published by the Ministry in September 2012 was meant to spur interest and participation in the bidding.
Only forty companies submitted bids for the oil and gas blocks by the 15 November deadline.
Bidders for shallow water blocks must cooperate with at least one company that is owned by a Myanmar national and registered with the Energy Planning Department. Bidders for deepwater blocks must conduct "Foreign Direct Investment" without the participation of any company owned by a Myanmar national, Deloitte reported.
For the first time, Myanmar will require block winners to perform environment impact assessments before final approval from the country's investment commission.
Image: Location of blocks on offer in the Myanmar Offshore Block First Bidding Round - 2013 (red shading). Source: PetroView®, Deloitte
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