Rangoon (Mizzima) - Two foreign oil companies operating in Burma have expanded operations in offshore oil and gas exploration, a government statement said.

MPRL E&P Pte Limited and Twinza Oil (Asia) Limited will conduct seismic surveys in offshore block A-6 and Yetagun East Block (YEB) from the second week of January, said the announcement last week.

MPRL E&P. Ltd., formerly the Myanmar Petroleum Resources Ltd. (MPRL), is registered in Singapore. The company has jointly operated an onshore oil field, Mann, with state-run Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) under a performance compensation contract.

The firm signed a production sharing contract (PSC) with MOGE in early 2007 to explore gas deposits in the 9,830 square kilometres offshore block A-6 near the Shwe gas project in Arakan State, Burma.

MPRL will conduct a seismic survey in the offshore block A-6 from January 8 to February 28, the announcement said.

Meanwhile, an Australian oil company Twinza Oil (Asia) Limited is operating the Yetagun East Block (YEB) oil and gas block offshore in Taninthayi.

The company signed a PSC with MOGE to explore gas deposits in Yetagun East block in Burma last year. The block is adjacent to the Yetagun gas field, which accounts for export of 400 million cubic feet of gas a day to Thailand. The Yetagun gas field is operated by Petronas Oil Company from Malaysia.

The announcement said Twinza Oil will start exploration and seismic surveys on January 31 and February 20.