Thai state-controlled oil and gas major takes over French stake in Myanmar gas field
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP), a unit of Thai state-controlled oil and gas giant PTT, will be taking over the stake of French oil firm TotalEnergies in the Yadana gas field in Myanmar, after the latter company announced to quit its operation due to the increasingly atrocious activities of the military junta and decreasing business conditions.
In a statement in rather broken English published on March 14, PTTEP said it would step in as TotalEnergies’ successor “to ensure the no interruption [sic!] of natural gas supply and to reinforce long-term energy security especially in the current circumstances.”
Pressure from humanitarian groups
Energy groups including TotalEnergies, US-based Chevron and Australia’s Woodside all announced their retreat from operations in Myanmar in January this year after increased pressure from humanitarian groups to halt all activities that could channel money back to the junta. The military coup was staged in February 2021, with violence and human rights abuses escalating ever since.
PTTEP in its statement did not refer to the coup, the internationally widely ostracised junta regime or any of the atrocities committed by the generals which prompted most multinational companies to leave the country. It rather highlighted the importance of “cooperation and support” between ASEAN countries and its presence in Myanmar’s oil and gas industry over the past 30 years, “working hand in hand in a way that will help develop economies and improve quality of lives of their people.”
Before the withdrawal, TotalEnergies was the operator and majority shareholder of the Yadana field with a working interest of 31.2 per cent, while Chevron held 28.3 per cent, PTTEP 25.5 per cent and Myanmar’s military-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise 15 per cent.
Under the PTTEP-TotalEnergies deal, the French company’s share of Yadana will be handed over to the remaining joint venture partners in a transaction without financial compensation.
Junta-linked oil company gets free stake boost
It is expected that Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise’s stake will rise to 21.8 per cent for free, and PTTEP and Chevron’s still active subsidiary Unocal Myanmar Offshore Company will hold 37.1 per cent and 41.1 per cent, respectively. Chevron will later retreat from the local joint venture.
The transfer of operatorship to PTTEP is expected to be completed by July 20, 2022.
Yadana produces about 770 million standard cubic feet per day, of which 220 million are used to cover 50 per cent of Myanmar’s gas demand for electricity generation, PTTEP said.
The remaining output, 550 million standard cubic feet per day, is exported to Thailand and supplies 12 power plants there, accounting for about 11 per cent of country’s gas consumption.
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP), a unit of Thai state-controlled oil and gas giant PTT, will be taking over the stake of French oil firm TotalEnergies in the Yadana gas field in Myanmar, after the latter company announced to quit its operation due to the increasingly atrocious activities of the military junta and decreasing business conditions. In a statement in rather broken English published on March 14, PTTEP said it would step in as TotalEnergies’ successor “to ensure the no interruption [sic!] of natural gas supply and to reinforce long-term energy security especially in the current circumstances.” Pressure from...
Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP), a unit of Thai state-controlled oil and gas giant PTT, will be taking over the stake of French oil firm TotalEnergies in the Yadana gas field in Myanmar, after the latter company announced to quit its operation due to the increasingly atrocious activities of the military junta and decreasing business conditions.
In a statement in rather broken English published on March 14, PTTEP said it would step in as TotalEnergies’ successor “to ensure the no interruption [sic!] of natural gas supply and to reinforce long-term energy security especially in the current circumstances.”
Pressure from humanitarian groups
Energy groups including TotalEnergies, US-based Chevron and Australia’s Woodside all announced their retreat from operations in Myanmar in January this year after increased pressure from humanitarian groups to halt all activities that could channel money back to the junta. The military coup was staged in February 2021, with violence and human rights abuses escalating ever since.
PTTEP in its statement did not refer to the coup, the internationally widely ostracised junta regime or any of the atrocities committed by the generals which prompted most multinational companies to leave the country. It rather highlighted the importance of “cooperation and support” between ASEAN countries and its presence in Myanmar’s oil and gas industry over the past 30 years, “working hand in hand in a way that will help develop economies and improve quality of lives of their people.”
Before the withdrawal, TotalEnergies was the operator and majority shareholder of the Yadana field with a working interest of 31.2 per cent, while Chevron held 28.3 per cent, PTTEP 25.5 per cent and Myanmar’s military-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise 15 per cent.
Under the PTTEP-TotalEnergies deal, the French company’s share of Yadana will be handed over to the remaining joint venture partners in a transaction without financial compensation.
Junta-linked oil company gets free stake boost
It is expected that Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise’s stake will rise to 21.8 per cent for free, and PTTEP and Chevron’s still active subsidiary Unocal Myanmar Offshore Company will hold 37.1 per cent and 41.1 per cent, respectively. Chevron will later retreat from the local joint venture.
The transfer of operatorship to PTTEP is expected to be completed by July 20, 2022.
Yadana produces about 770 million standard cubic feet per day, of which 220 million are used to cover 50 per cent of Myanmar’s gas demand for electricity generation, PTTEP said.
The remaining output, 550 million standard cubic feet per day, is exported to Thailand and supplies 12 power plants there, accounting for about 11 per cent of country’s gas consumption.
