India has escaped a standoff — a repeat of the South China Sea
squabble — with neighbouring Bangladesh following a ruling by
International Tribunal for Law of the Sea (ITLOS) that India’s natural
gas assets in Myanmar were outside Dhaka’s maritime limits.
Clarifying the ITLOS ruling on water boundary between Myanmar and
Bangladesh, the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) has informed that
blocks A1 and A3 would “remain within Myanmar side”. The blocks
collectively hold about 6 trillion cubic feet of discovered gas and
state-run Indian firms hold 25.5 per cent equity in each.
Bangladesh had contested the coordinates of A1 and other blocks,
and floated in February 2008 an exploration tender that included a
portion of A1. It had included Myanmar’s blocks AD7 to AD10 and portions
of AD1 to AD6, and handed a contract for their seismic survey to China
National Petroleum Corp.
The claims resulted in strained relations between the two
countries with a standoff in October 2008 when survey ships of A1 and A3
operator Daewoo International were forced to withdraw from close to St
Martin’s Island after Dhaka dispatched its naval forces.
The oil and gas fields map prepared by Myanmar following ITLOS’
March 14 verdict shows that almost all of its offshore blocks had been
excluded from Bangladesh.
“As such, the ITLOS’ verdict would have little impact on Myanmar’s offshore energy resources,” said the RAW report.
Gas reserves in A1’s Shwe and Shwe Phyu fields are estimated at
3.83 trillion cubic feet while that in A3’s Mya field is 1.52 TCF. Both
blocks are under development and gas production of 200 million standard
cubic metres per day is expected to commence from May 2013.
ONGC Videsh Ltd holds 17 per cent equity and GAIL India Ltd 8.5 per cent in each of A1 and A3 blocks.
Dhaka moved ITLOS with the provisions of UN Convention on the Law
of the Sea for international arbitration after Myanmar claimed 17 and
India 10 out of the 28 blocks that Bangladesh had announced for
exploration.
It dragged both neighbours to different international tribunals
in 2009, seeking delimitation of its maritime boundaries through and
beyond the continental shelf extending 200 nautical miles into the gas
and mineral rich Bay of Bengal.
