Rohingya News Agency - Reuters

Myanmar has awarded contracts to international oil majors Statoil and ConocoPhillips for oil and gas exploration in a deepwater offshore block, the official Kyemon Daily said on Sunday.

The Myanmar newspaper said the two companies' regional subsidiaries - Singapore-registered Statoil Myanmar Private Ltd and ConocoPhillips Myanmar E&P Pte. Ltd. - agreed to invest $323 million in oil and gas exploration in Deepsea Block AD.10, off Myanmar's western Rakhine coast.

Under the contracts, signed last week, production sharing agreements would span eight years. The companies will have to undertake environmental impact studies first, the newspaper said.

Last year, Myanmar awarded exploration rights to the two companies, as well as to Royal Dutch Shell and Total , for 10 shallow-water blocks and 10 deepwater blocks.

During the fiscal year that ended in March, Myanmar attracted foreign direct investment totalling $8 billion, of which more than 35 percent was generated by the energy sector, according data released by Myanmar Investment Commission.

Myanmar has targeted raising $6 billion through FDI during the current fiscal year.