Impacts of Oil & Gas Projects in Burma Arakan Oil Watch (Burma) Oil Watch Southeast Asia Regional Meeting July 27 2010 Geography of Burma Arakan Map -Area is 36,762 km² -Estimated population is 3 million -Capital city is Sittway Burma’s political situation in brief  Burma has been under military rule since 1962  National uprising in 1988.  National election in 1990: National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory with 82% of parliamentary seats  Instead of transferring power to NLD, the military arrested and tortured many MPs.  Saffron Revolution in 2007  Election law announced by SPDC  NLD not participating in 2010 election SHE MUST BE FREE Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 63 years old and Nobel Peace prize  winner, has spent more than 12of the past 18 years in detention. Over 2,100 political prisoners are still held in Burmese prisons.  Burma is a poor country under current brutal regime • At independence, Burma was one of Asia’s richest countries. Now it is among the poorest. • Most of the people live under 1US$ per day. • IDP 540,000 by war or human rights abuses. • Estimated 155,000 people live in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. • The economy is mismanaged. People cannot afford even basic needs due to chronic inflation in the hundreds of percent. • An estimated 35% of children under 5 years old suffer from malnutrition. • Junta and cronies are very, very rich, even Burma’s dictator though 57 million people are facing poverty. Than Shwe Burma Crisis: Aug-Sep, 2007 Burma is resource rich • Oil & Gas • Gems • Ruby & Jade • Timber • Hydropower Oil & Gas 43 % Timber 10.3 % Gem 5.9 % Oil&Gas Ivanhoe Copper 2.1 % Others 39 % Oil and Gas: Largest source of revenue for Than Shwe’s regime 2.16 billion US$ from ■ gas exports to Thailand by inland pipeline, (accounting for 43% of total exports in 2007) ■ Doubled from the last year 1.08 billion US$  Yadana offshore project  Operated by Total, Myanmar Unocal, PTTEP, MOGE.  Location: The Yadana project incorporates the M-5 and M-6 offshore blocks in the Mottama Gulf.  Reserves: 6.5TCF.  Production: The project exports 600 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) to Thailand, while another 125mmcfd is diverted for domestic use.  History: MOGE discovered the Yadana gas field, which provides a large chunk of the nation’s energy needs, in 1982. Gas exports from the field to Thailand, via a pipeline, started in 1998. Stakeholders Yadana: Total (France)-31%, Chevron (formerly UNOCAL, USA)-28%, PTTEP (Thailand)-26% , MOGE (Burmese military)-15%  Operated by Petronas, MOGE, PTTEP and Nippon  Location: M-12, M-13, M-14 offshore blocks, Mottama Gulf.  Reserves: 3.2TCF.  Production: 400mmcfd.  History: Discovered by Texaco (US) in 1992. Ownership changed to Premier in 1997 and then Petronas took over in 2002. Stakeholders Yetagun: PTTEP (Thailand)19.32%, Petronas(Malaysia)-14.17%, Nippon oil exploration-14.17%, MOGE (Myanmar)-15% Impacts from Thai-Burma pipeline construction • Land confiscation •Force relocation •Force labor •Rape case •Torture •Law sue the companies