ENEOS, a Japanese company, has withdrawn from the Myanmar gas project

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

ENEOS Holdings, a Japanese energy corporation, stated Monday that it will exit a gas project in Myanmar, days after its Thai and Malaysian partners announced their withdrawal.

ENEOS is the latest energy company to pull out of the Southeast Asian country, where the military has been cracking down on opposition since detaining and imprisoning civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last year.

 

Together with the Japanese government and Mitsubishi Corporation, the company is working on the Yetagun project off the coast of Myanmar.

They own a 19.3% share in the gas field, which has been producing for over two decades.

"After negotiations taking into account the country's current situation, including social difficulties, and project economics based on the technical evaluation of Yetagun gas reserves," ENEOS said it has "decided to withdraw."

"This withdrawal will take effect once the Myanmar government has given its consent," it said in a statement.

 

Companies ranging from France's TotalEnergies to British American Tobacco and Norway's Telenor have upped their game in the face of rising pressure from rights groups.

Tokyo is a key donor of aid to Myanmar, and the Japanese government has long had ties with the country's military.

Following the coup, Japan said that all fresh aid would be halted, but it refrained from imposing individual sanctions on military and police commanders.

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by ASEAN NOW Content Team