Oil majors TotalEnergies and Chevron Corp, partners in a major gas project in Myanmar, said on Friday they were withdrawing from the country, citing the worsening humanitarian situation following last year’s coup.
Shell, in its first public acknowledgement of the move, also said on Friday that it no longer held exploration licences in Myanmar as of last year.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army overthrew the elected government in February 2021 and detained its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta has used brutal force to put down protests.
TotalEnergies and Chevron, along with other firms, were part of a joint venture operating the Yadana gas project off Myanmar’s southwest coast, and the MGTC transportation system carrying gas from the field to the Myanmar/Thailand border. They are the latest Western companies to pull out in the wake of the coup.