Mitsubishi, Petronas, Kirin next to exit Myanmar
Malaysia’s oil giant Petronas and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi are divesting their stakes in Myanmar’s Yetagun gas field, the companies said on February 18, in the latest exits of major corporations from the country since the military coup last year.
Mitsubishi said that it would be “difficult” to continue the business technically and economically, according to Reuters, and therefore decided to put the indirect 1.93%-stake it holds in the Yetagun gas field in the Gulf of Martaban the Andaman Sea on sale for the remaining partners, which are JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production, or PTTEP, and Myanmar’s state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a holding controlled by the military.
Petronas already signed sales agreement
Petronas said that its unit PC Myanmar (Hong Kong) Limited, the operator of blocks M12, M13 and M14 of the Yetagun field, had signed agreements for the sale of all of its entities related to Petronas’ upstream operations in Myanmar already in July last year to an unnamed buyer, noting that the transaction was pending completion.
PC Myanmar holds a 40.91%-stake in Yetagun, while Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise owns 20.45%. Japanese consortium JX Myanmar led by JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration has a 19.32% stake, while the remainder is owned by PTTEP International.
In January, France’s TotalEnergies and US-headquartered Chevron, two of the world’s largest energy conglomerates and partners in a major gas project in Myanmar, said they were withdrawing from the country, citing the worsening humanitarian situation following last year’s coup.
Kirin quits partnership with military holding
Meanwhile, Japanese beer company Kirin Brewery, a member of Mitsubishi Corporation, finally decided to also leave Myanmar, where it operates Myanmar Brewery and Mandalay Brewery in a partnership with military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings.
The decision, announced on February 14, came after a year of fruitless negotiations with its local partner to terminate a joint venture and enter a partnership with a civil company. Kirin says it would “withdraw” from Myanmar by June 2022.
Other Japanese companies, including civil engineering firm Yokogawa Bridge Corporation, real estate company Tokyo Tatemono and construction and mining conglomerate Fujita, are expected follow suit in line with recommendations from the United Nations-backed international Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar to financially isolate the Myanmar military and curb its abuses, according to US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch.
[caption id="attachment_38241" align="alignleft" width="300"] Myanmar Beer, Kirin's flagship brand in Myanmar[/caption] Malaysia’s oil giant Petronas and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi are divesting their stakes in Myanmar’s Yetagun gas field, the companies said on February 18, in the latest exits of major corporations from the country since the military coup last year. Mitsubishi said that it would be “difficult” to continue the business technically and economically, according to Reuters, and therefore decided to put the indirect 1.93%-stake it holds in the Yetagun gas field in the Gulf of Martaban the Andaman Sea on sale for the remaining partners, which are JX Nippon...
Malaysia’s oil giant Petronas and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi are divesting their stakes in Myanmar’s Yetagun gas field, the companies said on February 18, in the latest exits of major corporations from the country since the military coup last year.
Mitsubishi said that it would be “difficult” to continue the business technically and economically, according to Reuters, and therefore decided to put the indirect 1.93%-stake it holds in the Yetagun gas field in the Gulf of Martaban the Andaman Sea on sale for the remaining partners, which are JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration, Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production, or PTTEP, and Myanmar’s state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, a holding controlled by the military.
Petronas already signed sales agreement
Petronas said that its unit PC Myanmar (Hong Kong) Limited, the operator of blocks M12, M13 and M14 of the Yetagun field, had signed agreements for the sale of all of its entities related to Petronas’ upstream operations in Myanmar already in July last year to an unnamed buyer, noting that the transaction was pending completion.
PC Myanmar holds a 40.91%-stake in Yetagun, while Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise owns 20.45%. Japanese consortium JX Myanmar led by JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration has a 19.32% stake, while the remainder is owned by PTTEP International.
In January, France’s TotalEnergies and US-headquartered Chevron, two of the world’s largest energy conglomerates and partners in a major gas project in Myanmar, said they were withdrawing from the country, citing the worsening humanitarian situation following last year’s coup.
Kirin quits partnership with military holding
Meanwhile, Japanese beer company Kirin Brewery, a member of Mitsubishi Corporation, finally decided to also leave Myanmar, where it operates Myanmar Brewery and Mandalay Brewery in a partnership with military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings.
The decision, announced on February 14, came after a year of fruitless negotiations with its local partner to terminate a joint venture and enter a partnership with a civil company. Kirin says it would “withdraw” from Myanmar by June 2022.
Other Japanese companies, including civil engineering firm Yokogawa Bridge Corporation, real estate company Tokyo Tatemono and construction and mining conglomerate Fujita, are expected follow suit in line with recommendations from the United Nations-backed international Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar to financially isolate the Myanmar military and curb its abuses, according to US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch.
