Regional LNG: Daewoo may build $3b LNG plant in Myanmar: report

South Korea's Daewoo International Corp will build a US$3 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Myanmar if additional reserves are found in a field off western Myanmar's coast, a newspaper reported on Monday.

The company will build the LNG plant if at least eight trillion cubic feet (230 billion cubic metres) of new natural gas reserves are discovered in the A-1 block off western Rakhine state, the Myanmar Times reported, quoting Yang Su-Yeong, managing director of Daewoo's Myanmar unit.

Daewoo holds a 60 per cent stake in the field, while India's ONGC Videsh has 20 per cent. Korea Gas Corp and Gail India have 10 per cent each in the consortium.

The consortium would drill eight more wells in mid-October before deciding whether to build the plant to produce LNG, the report said.

If no additional reserves are found, the field's existing gas will be supplied to India by pipeline, Yang said.

International oil consortiums have operated off the Myanmar coast for years.

Daewoo also signed a contract earlier with Myanmar to explore for gas in block A-3, located south of the block A-1. (*)