by Benjamin Mallett
PARIS (Reuters) – TotalEnergies announced on Friday its withdrawal from Burma after re-examining its position in the light of a situation that has continued to deteriorate in terms of human rights in the country since the coup. military date of February 1, 2021.
The French group specified in a press release that this withdrawal would be done for him “without any financial consideration” and would be effective at the latest at the end of a notice period of six months provided for contractually.
Chevron Corp also said on Friday that it had also initiated a process to lead it to withdraw from the country.
TotalEnergies has been a partner (31.24%) and operator of the Yadana gas field since 1992, alongside Unocal-Chevron (28.26%), PTTEP (25.5%) – a subsidiary of the national company Thai energy PTT – and Burmese state company MOGE (15%).
He did not specify the impact on his accounts of his withdrawal from Burma but stressed that the country represented for him 105 million dollars in 2021, or less than 1% of his results, and only 0.6% of his production.
The withdrawal provided for in the contracts of the Yadana field and the transport company MGTC provides that the interests of the French group will be divided between the current partners, unless they refuse, and that the role of operator will be taken over by one of the partners.
A spokesperson said that TotalEnergies was already in contact with PTT with a view to transferring its activities to it, the Thai group being a “natural” buyer insofar as its local subsidiary already operates gas fields nearby. of Yadana and because it is the main buyer of the gas produced by the field.
Since the February 1, 2021 coup, activist and human rights groups have called on TotalEnergies to block the funding that the Burmese junta receives through its gas activities in the country.
TOTALENERGIES CANNOT CUT FINANCIAL FLOWS
“If our company considers that its presence in a country allows it to promote its values (…), the context which continues to deteriorate (in Burma), in terms of human rights and more generally the rule of law ( …) has led us to reassess the situation and no longer allows TotalEnergies to make a sufficient positive contribution in this country”, explained the French group.
TotalEnergies stressed that it had not been able to “meet the expectations of many stakeholders” who were asking it to put an end to the income from which the Burmese state benefits via MOGE, stressing that such a measure was “in reality materially impossible” because most of the payments related to the sale of gas are made directly by PTT.
TotalEnergies, after having contacted the French authorities to “envisage the implementation of targeted sanctions which can confine all the financial flows of the various partners to escrow accounts without stopping the production of gas”, has also not identified “ways action to achieve it”.
During the notice period, the French group will continue to “ensure the continuity of gas deliveries for the benefit of the populations”.
Since the coup, which overthrew a civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese security forces have killed more than 1,400 people and arrested thousands, according to the NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Last spring, after expressing its concern and condemning the repression which followed the coup, TotalEnergies defended its decision to maintain its activity in Burma by considering that cutting off the gas supply would aggravate the situation of the population and that the junta would not hesitate to subject its local teams to forced labour.
In a letter sent Tuesday to the NGO Human Rights Watch, its CEO Patrick Pouyanné argued that all the group’s actions and decisions since the coup had been “guided by a constant evaluation of solutions (allowing) to take into account respect for the human rights of the civilian population and (its) personnel, while respecting the laws and conventions in force at national and international level”.
Rights groups hailed TotalEnergies’ announcement, calling for similar rulings and sanctions against Burma’s oil and gas sector.
“TotalEnergies has finally answered the calls of the Burmese people, local and international civil society to stop the flow of funds to the terrorist junta,” said Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for the activist group Justice for Myanmar.
“It is now essential that international governments move forward with targeted oil and gas sanctions to deprive the junta of funds from remaining oil and gas projects.”
(Edited by Blandine Hénault and Sophie Louet)
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