Bermuda and Cayman Islands must take action against oil companies for suspected Myanmar sanctions breaches after JFM legal submission

Mizzima

Oil companies based in British Overseas Territories have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for the illegal Myanmar junta since the military’s 2021 attempted coup, in suspected violation of UK sanctions, according to Justice For Myanmar (JFM) in a press statement 3 November.

These include two joint ventures between the junta-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and the Thai energy giant PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) that are still operating in British Overseas Territories, 18 months after JFM alerted authorities.

MOGE is the single biggest source of foreign revenue for the Myanmar junta, funding the aviation fuel and weapons it needs to wage an ongoing campaign of war crimes against the people.

Bermuda and Cayman Islands authorities must fully enforce UK sanctions by investigating these oil companies, holding them to account for violations and ending junta business in their territories.

Justice For Myanmar made legal submissions to the Cayman Islands and Bermuda governments in April 2024, detailing the suspected breaches of UK Myanmar (Sanctions) Regulations 2021 (the UK Regulations), which are covered by the Myanmar (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2021.

Justice For Myanmar reported the following companies, which extract and transport gas from some of Myanmar’s largest and most lucrative offshore fields, for suspected sanctions violations:

PTTEP Offshore Investment Company Limited (PTTEPO) is a subsidiary of the Thai publicly-listed and partially state-owned company, PTTEP. PTTEPO, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, has major investments in at least two joint ventures with MOGE in British Overseas Territories (see below).

One of PTTEPO’s joint ventures is Andaman Transportation Limited (ATL), a Cayman Islands company that operates a pipeline which transports gas from the Zawtika project (offshore blocks M9 and M11) to Thailand. ATL is 80% owned by PTTEPO and 20% owned by MOGE. ATL has two board members from MOGE, one who is the director of its finance department and one who is the director of its planning department.

Another PTTEPO joint venture is the Bermuda-based Moattama Gas Transportation Company Limited (MGTC), which operates a pipeline that transports gas from the Yadana project (offshore blocks M5 and M6) to Thailand. MGTC is 63% owned by PTTEPO and 37% owned by MOGE and also has two directors representing MOGE.

Unocal Myanmar Offshore Company Limited is a Bermuda-based subsidiary of US oil giant Chevron Corporation. Before its exit from Myanmar in April 2024, Unocal Myanmar was the biggest shareholder in the Yadana gas project and its pipeline company MGTC, holding 41.1% (up from 28.26% following the exit of TotalEnergies in July 2022). Unocal Myanmar remains registered in Bermuda.