Page 5 - AsianOil Week 17 2022

AsianOil COMMENTARY AsianOil

PTTEP’s withdrawal
from Yetagun comes
as it prepares to take
over the operatorship of
Yadana.

19.3%. However, Nippon’s parent company, What next?
Eneos Holdings, also said recently that it was The move comes as PTTEP is in the process
aiming to withdraw from the project in response of taking over the operatorship of the Yadana
to “social issues”. If the Japanese company also field from TotalEnergies as the latter withdraws
exits, MOGE would be the sole remaining par- from Myanmar. The transfer of operatorship is
ticipant in Yetagun. expected to be completed in July.
In its statement, PTTEP said it was refocus- Yadana is seen as strategically far more
ing on projects that support Thailand’s energy important to Thailand, given that more than
security and said it continued to place “utmost two-thirds of the field’s output is shipped there.
importance” on the continuity of gas produc- Production at Yadana was roughly 770 mmcf
tion as its main source of power generation. (21.8mn cubic metres) per day as of mid-March.
Production from Yetagun averaged 17mn In comparison, output from Yetagun is negli- Yadana is seen as
cubic feet (481,440 cubic metres) per day of gas gible and PTTEP will be taking on a far larger
and around 560 barrels per day (bpd) of con- share of output at Yadana. strategically far
densate, according to PTTEP. Given that the According to the Thai company’s announce- more important
volumes involved are modest, it is perhaps not ment in March, its ownership in Yadana will
surprising that an exit is being pursued, allow- rise to 37.1%, while a subsidiary of Chevron will to Thailand, given
ing the companies to focus on larger projects own 41.1% in the project following TotalEner-
while easing some of the pressure over their gies’ exit. Currently, the companies hold 25.5% that more than
operations in Myanmar. and 28.3% stakes in the field respectively, with
The partners in Yetagun had also had to TotalEnergies owning 31.2% and MOGE hold- two-thirds of the
contend with various challenges at the field ing 15%. However, Chevron also said earlier field’s output is
that may have dampened their appetite for this year that it would seek to offload its stake in
continuing to participate in it. In the immedi- the project, and indeed has been reported to be shipped there.
ate aftermath of Myanmar’s military coup in looking to PTTEP to take over that stake. While
February 2021, over 100 workers employed by TotalEnergies’ interest is being distributed
a contractor were left stranded on an offshore among the remaining shareholders at no cost,
platform at Yetagun. Then in April, the part- Chevron is pursuing an exit through a commer-
ners in the field declared force majeure owing cial transaction.
to a significant decline in production. Output PTTEP’s role in Yadana thus has the poten-
rates had dropped below the technical thresh- tial to grow further still, but at the same time,
old of Yetagun’s offshore gas processing plant, more withdrawals of international players can
Petronas said at the time. be expected.™

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