The Yetagun gas field is an offshore gas field in the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and the west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated f ...

. Following the

Yadana project The Yadana gas field is an offshore gas field in the Andaman Sea. It is located about offshore to the nearest landfall in Myanmar.Yadana means "treasure" in Burmese. The gas field is an important source of revenue for the Myanmar Army. Gas fro ...

, the US$700 million Yetagun ("Flag of victory") project was the second natural gas offshore project in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Description

The Yetagun gas field contained a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

estimated at . In 2000, the production started at and could go up to . It travels through a , diameter pipeline to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. About of the pipelines is undersea, and the rest of it is onshore, where it links with the Yadana pipeline. Also, Yetagun could produce eight to nine thousand barrels of

gas condensate Natural-gas condensate, also called natural gas liquids, is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields. Some gas species within the raw natura ...

per day.

History

The Yetagun gas field was a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...

(50%),

Premier Oil Premier Oil plc was an independent UK oil company with gas and oil interests in the United Kingdom, Asia, Africa and Mexico. It was devoted entirely to the 'upstream' sector of the industry — the exploitation of oil and gas — as opposed to th ...

(30%), and

Nippon Oil , formerly , or NOC or ''Shin-Nisseki'' (新日石) is a Japanese petroleum company. Its businesses include exploration, importation, and refining of crude oil; the manufacture and sale of petroleum products, including fuels and lubricants; and ...

(20%). After Texaco withdrew in 1997 and Premier Oil withdrew in 2002, Petronas became the operator. In 2008, the Yetagun gas pipeline had a problem with leaking, causing a loss of 400-500 million cubic feet per day (cfd) to Thailand. In 2011, a helicopter hired by Petronas to work at Yetagun crashed in the Andaman Sea, killing 3 people while 11 people survived.

Controversy

Some controversy exists regarding the Yetagun (and Yadana) pipeline since some of the profits go to the Burmese government which has a poor

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

record. Also, the main export pipeline runs through an area associated with the

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

and

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

ethnic minorities. There have also been reports of forced labor to build a railway to the pipeline terminus. Furthermore, some are concerned about the environmental impact the pipelines will have on forests.Bogumil Terminski, (2012), Oil-Induced Displacement and Resettlement. Social Propblem and Human Rights Issue, Working Paper, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. Though Texaco sold its shares for ostensibly commercial reasons, some believe that the US government’s sanctions on investments in Burma contributed to their withdrawal. Similarly in 2002, when Premier withdrew, activists claimed victory in a 10-year-long campaign against the company’s activity, whereas Premier insisted it pulled out due to commercial interests.

References

{{reflist

External links

Premier's Description of the Yetagun Project
Natural gas fields in Myanmar Natural gas fields in Thailand

Description

History

Controversy

See also

References

External links