Fuel Ghoul wonders, what’s up with
Exports of natural gas from Myanmar
(which generates twenty percent of all electricity in Thailand
and keeps the lights on in
Thailand's
natural gas deal highlights the dilemma facing
At a time of spiraling energy prices, the prospect of extracting such resources appears to override the ignominy of dealing with a despicable military government that has attracted world wide notoriety. The countries that have the most leverage over Burma seem the most reluctant to use it, Fuel Ghoul notes.
Fuel Ghoul understands exactly what’s going on here - from
the perspective of Myanmar's
leaders, the gas purchases by
They were led at first by former student protesters and
other activists, but most of the leaders had been arrested or were in hiding
when the monks began their protests last Tuesday.
The monks were apparently motivated at first by an attack on
a small demonstration at which security officers fired shots into the air and
beat protesters with clubs.
“We hope to become a
sort of [energy] bridge between
Natural gas reserves are much higher, he said—about 16
trillion cubic feet. If true, this would
put
Burma among
the world’s top 10 holders of known gas resources.
Unfortunately, the rich natural resources of the country are
nowhere near helping fuel
Burma’s
energy needs, or delivering hard currency income which could enable the
government to import larger amounts of refined oil fuels at affordable domestic
prices.
The A-1 and A-3 blocks of the Shwe field, about 60 kms off
the Arakan coast near the port of Sittwe, hold as much as 7.7 trillion cubic
feet (220 billion cubic meters) of recoverable gas, says South Korea’s Daewoo
International, the main developer.
But behind-the-scenes political and financial wrangles over
who will be allowed to buy this gas have been going on for more than a year,
with at least five countries bidding for the rights. Both
“The signals coming out of the Burma government on this Shwe gas are very confused and not good for the
international energy industry that might be looking to invest in the country,”
said Bangkok
In the murky world of the Burmese government, it’s unclear
who really has the final say on the Shwe gas field, although it is expected
that the state owned and operated Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise will partner with
whoever wins the prize.
Whatever the difficulties and risks of dealing with the
junta, it clearly hasn’t discouraged a string of foreign investors from seeking
a portion of
Burma’s
future role as a key energy supplier to Asian countries is not in doubt. The
question is can the regime put together an efficient mechanism to exploit its
natural resources in a way that truly benefits the Burmese people?
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