Friday, December 7, 2007

Myanmar Natural Gas Tender Won by China

China won the rights to natural gas from the biggest field in Myanmar, beating India in the race for resources among the two-fastest growing major economies.

Daewoo International, the operator of the field, picked a Chinese company as the preferred bidder to extract the gas, Daewoo International said in a regulatory filing, without naming the possible buyer. State-owned Indian companies own 30 percent of the field, which holds as much as 7.7 trillion cubic feet, or 218 billion cubic meters, of gas.

Gas commands a premium for fuel-hungry Asian nations as crude oil prices hover near $100 a barrel. India and China are competing for oil and gas to supply the two most populous nations in the world.

Daewoo International is the operator of the A-1 and A-3 offshore blocks, in which it has a 60 percent stake. Korea Gas owns 10 percent of the areas, GAIL India holds 10 percent and Oil & Natural Gas owns 20 percent.

"Gas from the field has to be sold and if Daewoo has chosen China, in principle, I see nothing wrong with it," the chairman of Oil & Natural Gas, R.S. Sharma, said. "GAIL was dealing with the bit relating to getting the gas to India."

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