CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that “French oil major to produce gas and pay taxes in Myanmar junta, and protect their interests.”
In the wake of calls for him not to donate money to the military, which ousted Myanmar’s parliament on February 1, Total is pushing for gas development on the west coast and halting its gas drilling campaign, Pouyanne said. He added that Total would pay the same amount of taxes paid to human rights organizations.
Stopping gas production in protest of political development would put workers “in a precarious position,” a senior official told a newspaper published on Sunday. Took the decision, Pouyanne said, “not because we want to keep our profits and continue to pay taxes to the military. But to ensure the safety of our employees, employees, and managers, protect them from imprisonment or coercion, and avoid further complicating people’s situation by depriving them of electricity. “
The total has been in existence since 1992 in Myanmar, where it employs about 250 people. Yadana offshore gas station, Total operating under a product-sharing contract, supplies half of Yangon’s city, with a population of about 5 million, and supplies to the west of Thailand, where most of the gas is exported.
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Myanmar has provided 38 blocks of offshore oil and gas to majors, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total, Woodside Petroleum Ltd., China National Petroleum Corp., Reliance Industries Ltd., and Eni SpA for the past three decades, according to the Myanmar electricity and energy service website. Pouyanne said Total had not paid taxes directly to the military government since the state’s coup in February because the banking system was no longer operational. Once it is re-established, the company will have to stop producing gas if it wants to close this revenue source.
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