Australian Woodside advised that it will be drilling a fifth well offshore Myanmar, following success of the Thalin deepwater discovery in Block AD-7. The Thalin-1B appraisal well, a re-entry and sidetrack of Thalin-1A, was spudded in late February. Block AD-7 is in the Bay of Bengal, some 100km offshore of the west coast of Myanmar. Water depth at Thalin-1A is 836m, which is the northern part of the Rakhine Basin. Production testing of the Thalin field established high reservoir deliverability and properties in line with expectations. Woodside plans to drill Thalin-1B to be followed by Thalin-2 appraisal well in Block AD-7. An additional firm exploration well has been committed to as part of the 2017 Myanmar drilling campaign, which now comprises five firm wells consisting of two appraisals and three exploration wells; and two contingent wells. Two exploration wells will be drilled in Block A-6 after Thalin-2, followed by a further exploration well in Block AD-7 using. The ultra-deepwater drillship Dhirubhai Deepwater KG2, contracted by Woodside, is assigned to the drilling campaign.
Woodside is today one of the largest offshore petroleum acreage holders in Myanmar with six permits across the Rakhine Basin making up nearly 47,000 km².