Irrawaddy/AFP-Mar 16
Thai energy company PTTEP has said it will take over the running of Myanmar’s vital Yadana gas field following the withdrawal of global giants Chevron and TotalEnergies in January. The US and French firms said they would pull out of Myanmar following growing international pressure from human rights groups to cut financial ties with the junta after last year’s military coup. The Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea provides electricity to Myanmar and Thailand, one of a number of gas projects that Human Rights Watch says make up Naypyitaw’s single largest source of foreign currency revenue, generating more than US$1 billion annually.
“After the decision of TotalEnergies to withdraw from Yadana project, PTTEP has thoroughly considered to take a step as the successor operator in order to ensure [there is] no interruption of natural gas supply,” PTT Exploration and Production Public Company (PTTEP) said in a statement Monday. PTTEP—a unit of Thailand’s majority state-owned energy firm PTT—will take control of operations from July 20, saying “continuity in gas production and preventing disruption to energy demand” was of utmost importance. The field accounts for roughly 50 percent of Myanmar’s gas demand, PTTEP said, and around 11 percent of Thailand’s. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/thai-firm-takes-over-myanmar-gas-field-after-withdrawal-of-chevron-total.html
