SE Asia Home to Future Oil and Gas Exploration Hotspots

Unproven areas and those of political conflict in SE Asia are the exploration hotspots for oil and gas, according to a top international geoscientist.

Speaking today at the International Conference of Emerging Plays in Australasia conference, Australian geoscientist Ian Longley said that some current exploration hotspots of SE Asia surround recent significant discoveries.

These comprise the Cuu Long Basin of Vietnam with its emergence of new shallow and deeper plays, the Bengal Basin in Myanmar, the East Java basin in Indonesia and the deep water portions of the Pearl River Mouth in China.

But undiscovered and heavily licenced areas such as the politically disputed area in the Thai-Cambodia region, the Makassar Straits of Indonesia and the Phu Khanh Basin of Vietnam will see 'considerable' exploration activity over the next few years.

"Drilling success in these and other unproven areas is likely and demonstrates that significant exploration potential remains in the region and that politics, technology and simple wildcat drilling have a role to play in the regions exciting future," says Longley.

By Ozge Ibrahim