The Fort Worth Press - Total, Chevron to exit Myanmar amid rights abuses

USD -
AED 3.673025
AFN 70.203776
ALL 94.72991
AMD 399.571201
ANG 1.801147
AOA 911.999742
ARS 1024.764641
AUD 1.602564
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.707442
BAM 1.880387
BBD 2.017854
BDT 119.425657
BGN 1.881502
BHD 0.377297
BIF 2955.250141
BMD 1
BND 1.358023
BOB 6.906034
BRL 6.177099
BSD 0.999409
BTN 85.070401
BWP 13.880196
BYN 3.2706
BYR 19600
BZD 2.011028
CAD 1.43655
CDF 2870.000319
CHF 0.900396
CLF 0.035903
CLP 990.680377
CNY 7.295601
CNH 7.306215
COP 4373.91
CRC 507.443888
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 106.009258
CZK 24.13645
DJF 177.720371
DKK 7.173598
DOP 60.878469
DZD 135.004081
EGP 50.863486
ERN 15
ETB 127.249653
EUR 0.96125
FJD 2.31865
FKP 0.791982
GBP 0.797901
GEL 2.809917
GGP 0.791982
GHS 14.690824
GIP 0.791982
GMD 72.000304
GNF 8637.257305
GTQ 7.698187
GYD 209.094274
HKD 7.76645
HNL 25.392629
HRK 7.172906
HTG 130.677858
HUF 395.7365
IDR 16216.65
ILS 3.64741
IMP 0.791982
INR 85.18175
IQD 1309.194745
IRR 42087.500038
ISK 139.550069
JEP 0.791982
JMD 155.70906
JOD 0.709299
JPY 157.115033
KES 129.16048
KGS 87.000009
KHR 4016.86352
KMF 466.125009
KPW 899.999441
KRW 1458.444973
KWD 0.30818
KYD 0.832889
KZT 517.740827
LAK 21856.237051
LBP 89496.829647
LKR 294.535858
LRD 181.893348
LSL 18.583137
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.906047
MAD 10.078114
MDL 18.439307
MGA 4713.901828
MKD 59.187109
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.99987
MOP 7.995077
MRU 39.894438
MUR 47.070373
MVR 15.400113
MWK 1732.998111
MXN 20.169298
MYR 4.487013
MZN 63.903729
NAD 18.583316
NGN 1541.929994
NIO 36.775133
NOK 11.355299
NPR 136.112834
NZD 1.771166
OMR 0.384397
PAB 0.999418
PEN 3.721404
PGK 4.056165
PHP 58.810149
PKR 278.223998
PLN 4.096609
PYG 7794.405373
QAR 3.634825
RON 4.7843
RSD 112.340487
RUB 99.924559
RWF 1394.17276
SAR 3.753338
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.943269
SDG 601.501552
SEK 11.083899
SGD 1.3602
SHP 0.791982
SLE 22.806991
SLL 20969.503029
SOS 571.18684
SRD 35.057964
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.744935
SYP 2512.530243
SZL 18.591213
THB 34.174978
TJS 10.933512
TMT 3.51
TND 3.186697
TOP 2.342097
TRY 35.11625
TTD 6.791557
TWD 32.642013
TZS 2419.999828
UAH 41.903581
UGX 3658.249328
UYU 44.484182
UZS 12902.047311
VES 51.575582
VND 25440
VUV 118.722003
WST 2.762788
XAF 630.658148
XAG 0.033795
XAU 0.000382
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.766261
XOF 630.639959
XPF 114.657091
YER 250.374982
ZAR 18.690204
ZMK 9001.201804
ZMW 27.658746
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    -0.7000

    59.8

    -1.17%

  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • RYCEF

    0.0000

    7.25

    0%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

Total, Chevron to exit Myanmar amid rights abuses
Total, Chevron to exit Myanmar amid rights abuses

Total, Chevron to exit Myanmar amid rights abuses

Energy giants TotalEnergies and Chevron said Friday they would leave Myanmar following pressure from human rights groups to cut financial ties with the military junta since last year's military coup.

Text size:

Total cited in a statement the "worsening" human rights situation in the country in its decision to pull out of Myanmar, a move that deprives the junta of a key source of revenue.

The French firm and US oil major Chevron will withdraw from the Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea, which provides electricity to the local Burmese and Thai population.

"The situation, in terms of human rights and more generally the rule of law, which have kept worsening in Myanmar... has led us to reassess the situation and no longer allows TotalEnergies to make a sufficiently positive contribution in the country," the French oil company said.

US energy giant Chevron said it was leaving "in light of circumstances in Myanmar".

"We have reviewed our interest in the Yadana natural gas project to enable a planned and orderly transition that will lead to an exit from the country," said spokesman Cameron Van Ast.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says natural gas projects are Myanmar's single largest source of foreign currency revenue, generating more than $1 billion every year.

But Total said it had not identified any means to sanction the military junta without avoiding stopping gas production and ensuing payments to the military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

- 'Strong message' -

The company had announced last year that it was suspending cash payments to its joint venture with the army, Moattama Gas Transportation Company Limited (MGTC).

Total paid around $230 million to the Myanmar authorities in 2019 and another $176 million in 2020 in the form of taxes and "production rights", according to the company's own financial statements.

Total said Friday that it had tried "insofar as is materially and legally possible" to limit financial flows received by the MOGE.

But it said it was "materially impossible" to prevent revenue flows as Thailand's national energy company PTT made most gas sale payments.

PTT chief executive Montri Rawanchaikul on Friday said the company was "carefully considering" its direction following TotalEnergies' announcement.

HRW welcomed the French company's withdrawal and called for governments to "prevent any other unscrupulous entities from entering the market".

"Total's announcement does highlight how pressure from investors and human rights focused business can work. Governments no longer have an excuse to delay imposing targeted sanctions on oil and gas entities," HRW Myanmar researcher Manny Maung told AFP.

Myanmar's shadow national unity government said the news sent a "very strong message" to the ruling junta.

"Other companies must follow Total's example to put even more pressure on the generals to stop their bloody repression," said shadow minister Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe.

- Western sanctions -

Around 30 percent of the gas produced at Yadana is sold to the MOGE for domestic use, providing about half of the largest city Yangon's electricity supply, according to TotalEnergies.

About 70 percent is exported to Thailand and sold to PTT.

TotalEnergies owns almost one-third of the gas field, which it has operated since 1992 and produces around six billion cubic metres of gas per year.

Chevron holds a minority interest in the project. Its local affiliate, Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co., has been in Myanmar since the early 1990s.

Total will continue to operate the site for the next six months at the latest until its contractual period ends.

International pressure has been building against Myanmar's military junta since last year's coup ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Western powers have imposed targeted economic sanctions on the military.

The junta has vested interests in large swathes of the country's economy, from mining to banking, oil and tourism.

Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor this week sold its stake in a Burmese digital payments service over the coup.

Italy's Benetton and Sweden's H&M suspended all new orders from the country last year.

More than 1,400 civilians have been killed as the military cracks down on dissent and press freedoms, according to a local monitoring group, and numerous anti-junta militias have sprung up around the country.

Suu Kyi this month was convicted of three criminal charges and sentenced to four years in prison and now faces five new corruption charges.

Myanmar's military has also faced accusations of serious human rights violations over its treatment of the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority ethnic group.

J.Ayala--TFWP