Woodside pauses Burmese activity amid protest crackdown

Australian independent Woodside Petroleum plans to reduce its presence in Myanmar (Burma) and demobilise its offshore exploration drilling team in the coming weeks amid escalating civil unrest in the country.

"Until we see the outlook for Myanmar and its political stability has improved, Woodside will keep all business decisions under review," the company said. Woodside does not have any direct commercial arrangements with any of Myanmar's armed forces organisations, it said.

The statement, on 27 February, came a day before a major escalation in violence following the military takeover and the arrest of the country's elected leaders at the start of February. At least 18 protestors were killed yesterday, the UN said, by far the worst death toll so far.

The US government said it was alarmed by the latest violence, which it described as an escalation of the security forces' crackdown on pro-democracy protestors. "We are preparing additional actions to impose further costs on those responsible for this latest outbreak of violence and the recent coup," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Washington imposed sanctions on individuals involved in the coup last month.

Woodside's main interest in Myanmar, where it has been operating since 2013, is in several offshore exploration blocks. In January it started its fourth drilling campaign, including on its exploration block A-7 and in AD-1 and AD-8.

By Kevin Morrison and Kevin Foster