OREANDA-NEWS The Australian oil and gas company Woodside Petroleum Ltd., following the French TotalEnergies, decided to withdraw from Myanmar due to the deteriorating human rights situation in the country, where a military coup took place in February 2021.

«Given the current situation in Myanmar, we can no longer consider Woodside's participation in the development of gas fields or any other activity in the country», Woodside CEO Meg Onil said through a press service.

The Australian company has been present in the Myanmar oil and gas market since 2013. It owns 40% of the gas production joint venture known as Block A-6. Woodside has also participated in the AD-1 and AD-8 gas exploration projects.

The company reported that its losses due to the withdrawal from the Block A-6 and AD-1 projects in fiscal year 2021 will amount to $138 million. Woodside shares rose 2.5% at auction in Australia on Thursday, January 27.

Total announced its withdrawal from Myanmar on January 21. The company explained that after the military coup, it decided to curtail all current projects in the country, except for gas production at the Yadana field, from where fuel is exported to Thailand. At the same time, TotalEnergies tried to limit the financial flows that the state oil company of Myanmar, MOGE, receives from the project.