September 28, 2007
Burma: spotlight falls on Total and Chevron
As Burma’s ruling junta cracks down on protesters, killing nine yesterday, calls to do more to put pressure on the regime in terms of financial sanctions are growing, and putting the spotlight on the role played by Total and Chevron. They are partners in the Yadana natural gas project, which last year produced almost half of Burma’s gas, and is said to deliver up to $400m a year in government revenues.
Total, which leads the project, has engaged extensively with its critics, but this week again rejected the idea of pulling out.
By a quirk of history, France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, wrote a report on Burma for Total back in 2003. It commissioned him to give an independent view of its involvement when he was a human rights consultant. The report is available at the extensive section of Total’s corporate website detailing the company’s position on Burma.
Chevron, meanwhile, has been keeping a low profile. It acquired its stake somewhat accidentally, when it bought Unocal in 2005. Texaco, later bought by Chevron, pulled out of Burma in 1997. Total seems rather more accustomed to dealing with controversial regimes.
Burma’s gas resources - not massive but not insignificant either, as the BP review of energy shows - are certainly a complicating factor in dealing with the regime. Thailand is the biggest buyer of its gas exports, and China and to a lesser extent India have been moving in, too, and their companies are a lot less susceptible to public opinion than Total or Chevron. When it argues that things would be worse if it pulled out, Total may well be right.
