January 30, 2023 (Narinjara)

 

The Junta exported and sold US$1.43 billion worth of natural gas from Rakhine to China during 2022.

 

BETV Business News cited a statement from a Chinese customs department about the gas produced by the Shwe natural gas project in Rakhine offshore, and sold to China through the Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline.

 

The gas pipeline, which was built at a cost of about $1 billion, was said to be able to distribute and transport 12 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The natural gas produced from Rakhine offshore is sent to China’s Yunnan State through the gas pipeline across Magway, Mandalay and Shan State.

 

In addition to the gas there is also the 771-kilometer long crude oil pipeline from Kyauk Phyu to Yunnan State built at a cost of more than $1.5 billion, and designed to transport 22 million tons of crude oil annually.

 

In the China-Myanmar gas pipeline project, Myanmar Oil and Natural Gas Enterprise (MOGE) owns 7.36 percent of the shares, and in the oil pipeline project, it owns up to 49.1 percent of the shares.

 

According to the report, Myanmar is among the countries that exports the most gas to China, and is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Turkmenistan and Russia.

 

The Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline is under the responsibility of South-East Asia Gas Pipeline Company Limited (SEAGP), while the crude oil pipeline is being managed by South-East Asia Crude Oil Pipeline Company (SEAOP).

 

Even though that Rakhine’s natural resources are exported to China for billions every year by successive Myanmar governments, Rakhine state is the second poorest state in Myanmar and has one of the highest unemployment rates.