Malaysia's Petronas withdraws from Myanmar's Yetagun gas field

MALAYSIA'S state energy firm Petronas on Friday (Apr 29) said it has withdrawn from Blocks M12, M13 and M14 located in the Yetagun gas field off Myanmar, the latest exit by a major energy company since last year's military coup.

International companies doing business in Myanmar have come under pressure from rights groups and Myanmar's shadow civilian government to review their operations and stop payments flowing to a military government that seized power from an elected government and has brutally cracked down on dissent.

Petronas' move follows Japan's Mitsubishi, which indirectly held a minority stake in the Yetagun field and in February said it was divesting its stake.

Petronas in its statement did not mention the turmoil in Myanmar as a reason for the withdrawal and said instead "the decision was made following a thorough techno-commercial review."

Petronas subsidiary PC Myanmar (Hong Kong), which had operated the Yetagun project since 2003, held a 40.9 per cent stake. Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise owns 20.5 per cent.

A Japanese consortium, led by the Japanese government and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration, a unit of oil refinery Eneos Holdings, has a 19.3 per cent stake while the remainder is owned by PTTEP International.

Eneos in March said it aims to withdraw from the project in response to "social issues", amid criticism that the project is funding Myanmar's military junta. REUTERS