Woodside's statement
Woodside has watched the political unrest in Myanmar with concern since the declaration of the state of emergency in February 2021. Our offshore exploration activities have since ceased, and with no producing assets in country, we have reduced our presence. On 27 January 2022, Woodside decided to withdraw from its interests in Myanmar. Minimal administrative activities are ongoing in order to close-out Woodside’s remaining contractual obligations and complete the company’s formal exit from Myanmar in a safe and compliant manner.
As a responsible foreign investor, our conduct is guided by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other relevant international standards. Our planned exit included consultation with our employees, contractors, joint venture partners, community partners and the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business. We recognised the rights of our local employees to participate in protest activities and continued to support our employees through access to financial support, counselling, ability to work from home and redeployment.
Our management system further informed our response including our Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy which applies to all directors, officers, employees and contractors providing a service for or on behalf of Woodside. Woodside adopts a risk-proportionate approach to the performance of third-party due diligence on business partners, customers and suppliers prior to contracting, and in monitoring and management of those relationships once they are in place. A minimal number of existing long- term vendors in Myanmar are contracted to assist with exit activities, and all of these have been subjected to due diligence and monitoring