27 January 2022

Woodside is withdrawing from strife-torn Myanmar a year after then chief executive Peter Coleman drew flak for sympathising with the generals who staged a coup in February 2021.

Chief executive Meg O’Neill said there was no longer a viable option to develop gas from its 40 per cent owned joint venture in the country, known as the A-6 block.

“Given the ongoing situation in Myanmar, we can no longer contemplate Woodside’s participation in the development of the A-6 gas resources, nor other future activities in-country,” she said.

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Woodside’s moves follow the withdrawal last week by Chevron and France’s TotalEnergies and calls by New York-based Human Rights Watch [...] for sanctions on foreign currency payments to deprive the junta of natural gas revenues if other companies take over the developments abandoned by the western companies.

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Woodside will now start the processes to exit exploration blocks, its A-6 gas joint venture and a production sharing contract with state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise.

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