Petronas in talks for Texaxo's Myanmar stake
Petronas in talks for Texaxo's Myanmar stake
KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysia's state oil firm, Petronas, is
holding talks with U.S.-based Texaco on the possibility of buying
its stake in Myanmar's Yetagun gas field, a company official said
yesterday.
The official, who did not want to be named, confirmed a Thai
newspaper report yesterday that the oil firm's exploration arm,
Petronas Carigali, is in negotiations with Texaco.
However, he said, the negotiations are still at an early stage
and Petronas has yet to decide whether it will buy up Texaco's
full 40 percent share in Yetagun, or part of it.
The Thai newspaper, the Nation, quoted industry sources as
saying that Texaco has opened talks with several oil and gas
firms to sell off its 40 per cent stake in Yetagun, following
Washington's decision to impose sanctions on new U.S. investments
in military-ruled Burma.
Although the sanctions will apply only to new investments and
not to existing projects like the Yetagun field, Texaco has been
talking with Petronas as well as Indonesia's state oil firm
Pertamina and Thai energy and mining group Ban Pu Plc.
Texaco chief executive Peter Bijur was reported earlier as
saying at the company's annual shareholders meeting that it would
consider selling its Yetagun holding.
The Nation said Petronas has emerged as a strong contender
because it has offered to swap its stake in a Malaysian field for
the Yetagun share.
It quoted a source as saying that Petronas is keen on the
Yetagun stake since it is trying to "build its empire in
countries around Thailand, which is Southeast Asia's largest
market for gas."
The newspaper said other partners in the Yetagun project are
British firm Premier Oil, Japan's Nippon Oil and Thailand's PTT
Exploration and Production Plc.
The Petronas official said if the talks are successful, it
will be the state oil company's second venture in Burma. It
relinquished its exploration rights to an onshore project in
Myanmar several years ago, in a venture with Japan's Idemitsu Co,
after tests showed the project was not viable.