Page 10 - AsiaElec Week 06 2021

AsiaElec POLICY AsiaElec

Woodside commits to Myanmar

despite coup

AUSTRALIAN developer Woodside Petroleum has warned that the coup could derail final
MYANMAR remains committed to drilling three deepwater investment decisions (FIDs) on upstream pro-
wells offshore Myanmar this year, despite the jects worth $2.5bn over the next decade, with
country’s recent military coup. Woodside’s A-6 project highlighted as a potential
The Myanmar army detained the country’s candidate for such delays.
leaders on Monday over claims of election fraud Wood Mackenzie research associate Saloni
and imposed a one-year-long state of emergency. Kapoor said: “Key developments such as
The move has prompted US President Joe Biden PTTEP’s Block M9 (Zawtika) and Woodside’s
to consider re-imposing sanctions that were Block A6 account for around 40% of the coun-
lifted by former US President Barack Obama. try’s expected supply until 2030. Incremental
Woodside told Reuters on February 4 that phases at Zawtika will provide upside to Myan-
despite recent events it intended to pursue its mar’s energy mix, but if A-6 does not progress
development schedule for the A-6 project, which as planned, an estimated 2 trillion cubic feet
lies off Myanmar’s south-west coast in around [56.64bn cubic metres] of gas supply is threat-
2,000 metres of water. ened. This supply is critical to make up for
“Our current drilling campaign remains on declining volumes from legacy fields.”
schedule and those supporting the drilling cam- The analyst further argued that environmen-
paign are safe and accounted for. We continue tal, social and governance (ESG) risk exposure
to progress the A-6 Development activities as would weigh on the $2.5bn worth of upstream
a priority,” the newswire quoted an unnamed investment that five companies had planned for
Woodside spokeswoman as saying. the next five years.
The spokeswoman added that Woodside Wood Mackenzie’s consulting director, Man-
aimed to be a “constructive foreign investor” in gesh Patankar, said several Chinese-led liquefied
Myanmar, before adding: “In the ongoing devel- natural gas (LNG) import projects – including
opment of Myanmar, economic stability and CNTIC VPower’s existing small-scale termi-
energy supply can play an important role.” nal and a proposed integrated LNG-to-power
While Woodside told Reuters that it was project at Mee Laung Gyaing – were unlikely
monitoring guidance from the UN and the Aus- to be affected as a result of China having always
tralian government on investing in Myanmar, it engaged with both the military and civilian-led
refused to be drawn on how it would respond if governments.
sanctions were imposed. “However, the Ahlone LNG-to-power pro-
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has ject led by TTCL with Japanese partners and the
vowed to see the coup fail, promising to rally Thilawa LNG-to-power project led by the Japa-
enough international support that the military nese consortium of Marubeni-Sumitomo-Mit-
will have to relinquish power. sui, entailing a total investment cost of around
“We will do everything we can to mobilise all $2.7bn, could face delays,” Patankar added.
the key actors and international community to The analyst also warned that US “incremental
put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure counter-measures” could lead to a drop-off in the
that this coup fails,” Guterres said in a February country’s LNG imports, owing to LNG suppliers
4 interview broadcast by The Washington Post. and ship owners finding it increasingly difficult
Global energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie to do business with Myanmar companies.™

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