38 million ft3 productivity check per day
Evaluation and commercial production from next year

POSCO International has found a new gas layer in Myanmar. The company plans to check the commercial viability of the production test and try commercial production after conducting a detailed analysis next year. Exploration test is to verify the presence of gas in the stratum using drilling equipment, and gas production test is to directly check the gas productivity of the stratum where the gas was found after drilling.

POSCO Intrator said, "We conducted drilling to 2,598 meters below ground in the promising structure of Mach, a deep-sea area of more than 1,000 meters, from April 12 and confirmed good productivity in the gas layer, which is about 12 meters thick

POSCO Intrator said it plans to start the evaluation process from 2021 on the gas layer of Mach promising structures. After two years of detailed analysis, it is planning to develop gas field as ‘Cashkau’ that connects current gas field in Myanmar. POSCO Intrator is currently producing gas from two offshore gas fields including A-1 photosphere ‘Shwe’ and ‘Miyah’ and selling it to China and Myanmar. Sales reached a record 216.2 billion ft3 last year. POSCO Injector posted 723.1 billion won in sales and 441.8 billion won in operating profit last year alone. Operating profit from gas sales is equivalent to 73 percent of the company’s total operating profit (605.3 billion won). Based on sales and sales figures last year, sales and operating profit of each 100 million ft3 gas are calculated at 334 million won and 24 million won, respectively. For the Mach promising structure, the daily output of gas balls, which were tested for gas production, is about 13.9 billion ft3 in annual terms, and the corresponding sales and operating profits as of last year are estimated at 46.4 billion won and 28.4 billion won, respectively.

POSCO Injector currently produces gas through eight drilling holes at Schwe Gas Field, which calculates that it can generate 371.2 billion won in annual sales and 227.2 billion won in operating profit, assuming that Mach promising structures are currently developed at the level of Schwe gas field and that each drilling rig shows the same productivity as the gas field tested for yield.

However, the company explained that the economic feasibility of Mach's promising structure is very uncertain at the moment, and that it can be grasped relatively accurately only after the evaluation and analysis work is completed.

According to POSCO Inter, the Mach promising structure is located about 30 kilometers south of the Shuwe gas field, allowing efficient development such as reducing investment costs and shortening construction period as it is possible to develop gas field production facilities.

Further gas discovery is also expected as exploration of promising structures such as ‘Yan Aung Min’, which is 24 kilometers southeast of Maha’s promising structure, is also scheduled.

"The discovery of the new gas layer proves the company’s deep-sea exploration capability again," a POSCO interviewee source said. "We plan to continue to explore promising mining areas in the future and accelerate the completion of POSCO Group’s energy value chain."