By Jared Ferrie
YANGON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Myanmar will auction nineoffshore oil and gas blocks for exploration next year, anofficial from state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)said on Tuesday.
Four shallow and five deep water blocks will be availableand 65 percent of the shallow blocks have proven hydrocarbonswhile the deep water blocks are unproven, said Than Tun,director (offshore) of MOGE.
MOGE has done some exploration but did not have the righttechnology to assess how much oil there is, Than Tun said.
"There is a good chance for big discoveries in the future,"he told reporters on the sidelines of an oil and gas conferenceorganised by CWC Group in Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon.
In March, Myanmar distributed 20 offshore oil and gas blocksto companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Statoil.
The government and companies are finalising contracts andexploration should begin on those blocks early next year, ThanTun said.
(Writing by Paul Mooney, editing by David Evans)