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Burma News (r)



Contents--
Burma News:
Total:
ASSK
Khin Nyunt in China
Mon kicked into burma
Indonesia wants to help burmese tourist industry
China trip.

                   Copyright 1994 Extel Financial Limited   
                            Regulatory News Service

                September 9, 1994, Friday  - 05:18 Eastern Time

SECTION: Company News

LENGTH: 474 words

HEADLINE: Total-Compagnie - Re Disposal Agreement

BODY:
               TOTAL signs a memorandum of understanding to sell   
            Myanmar offshore gas to Petroleum Authority of Thailand
 
Myanmer Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), TOTAL and Unocal announced today that 
they have signed a memorandum of understanding and initiated a gas sales 
agreement with Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), whereby they agree to
sell 
PTT natural gas produced from the Yadana offshore field.
 
In July 1992, TOTAL signed a contract with MOGE, the Myanmar national oil 
company, to appraise, develop and produce gas from the Yadana field, located 70 
kilometers off the coast of Myanmar.  Delineation wells drilled in 1993 yielded 
very positive results, that estimated natural gas reserves at over 5 Tcf.  This 
makes Yadana a giant gas field.
 
The Yadana gas will be produced on offshore platforms.  It will be transported 
by a 350-kilometer undersea pipeline to an onshore junction and then via a 
60-kilometer overland section to the Myanmar-Thailand border.  In Thailand, it 
will be carried to the Ratchaburi region, where it will be used to fire a 2,800 
megawatt power plant run by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand 
(EGAT).  Deliveries to PTT are scheduled to begin in 1998 for a period of
thirty 
years, at the initial rate of 525 mof/d.  The gas will help meet the strong 
growth in Thailand's energy demand, which is expanding by around 6 to 10% a 
year.  This tranlates into an additional 1,000 megawatts a year.
 
Over the longer term, production from the Yadana field could rise to 650 mcf/d, 
with the additional output being used to supply Myanmar's domestic energy 
demand.
 
The project is being managed by TOTAL, who is operator with a 52.5% interest, 
and by UNOCAL, which owns a 47.5% interest. Existing agreements give Thailand's 
PTT-EP (the exploration and production subsidiary of PTT) and Myanmar's MOGE
the 
option of taking, respectively, a 25.5% and a 15% interest in the project. If 
the two companies exercise this option, TOTAL's interest will be reduced to 
31.2%. 
TOTAL will be operator both for the development of the field and for the 
pipeline to the Thai border, with PTT operating the line within Thailand.
 
On the condition that a certain number of detailed agreements currently under 
discussion are concluded in the coming months, the signature of the memorandum 
of understanding will enable this major project to get underway in early 1995. 


                                                                      PAGE    2
                   Regulatory News Service, September 9, 1994

The development of the Yadana field is part of TOTAL's strategic commitment to 
expanding in steadily growing Southeast Asian energy markets. It means that 
TOTAL, which already produces natural gas from Thailand's Bangkot field, will 
become one of the country's leading energy suppliers.

                        BBC Summary of World Broadcasts

                           September 9, 1994, Friday

SECTION: Part 3 Asia - Pacific; SOUTHEAST ASIA; BURMA; FE/2096/B ; 

LENGTH: 205 words

HEADLINE: INTERNAL AFFAIRS;
Aung Suu Kyi reportedly softens stance on military rulers

SOURCE: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 1127 gmt 7 Sep 94

   Yangon [Rangoon], 7th September: Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
has softened her stance against Myanmar's [Burma's] ruling military junta,
suggesting she will abandon political party activities once she is released,
informed sources said Wednesday [7th September]. Suu Kyi also hinted she will
not deny the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which put
her under more than five years of house arrest, and that she wants to deal with
problems of minority races as a peace activist in the future.  

   The Nobel Peace Prize winner revealed her intentions in a meeting with
Burmese Buddhist missionary Monk Rev U Revata Dhamma in early August in 
Yangon,
the sources said. The Buddhist monk, who visited Myanmar from England where he
is living now, then conveyed her ideas to senior SLORC officials. But
Myanmar's ruling junta was in an apparent loss on how to react to her sudden
change of heart and intends to probe her intentions through talks with her
starting by the year-end, the sources said. The talks are scheduled to start by
late December, Kyaw Win, deputy director of the Defence Ministry's Intelligence
Bureau, said at a press conference 2nd September
            The British Broadcasting Corporation, September 9, 1994

                           September 9, 1994, Friday

SECTION: Part 3 Asia - Pacific; CHINA; foreign relations; FE/2096/G ; 

LENGTH: 160 words

HEADLINE: burma;
Burma's SLORC Secretary-1 in Beijing at invitation of Luo Gan

SOURCE: Beijing, in English 0136 gmt 7 Sep 94; Beijing, in English 1243 gmt 7
Sep 94

BODY:
   Editorial report

   Secretary-1 of Myanmar (Burma)'s State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt left Rangoon for Beijing on 7th September
to pay an 8-day friendly goodwill visit to China, Xinhua news agency (Beijing,
in English 0136 gmt 7 Sep 94) reported.

   The Myanmar goodwill delegation includes Minister for Transportation Lt-Gen
Thein Win, Minister for National Planning and Economic Development Brig-Gen
Abel, Minister for Foreign Affairs U Ohn Gyaw, Minister for Industry-2 U Than
Shwe, Commander of the Northern Command Maj-Gen Saw Lwin and four deputy
ministers as well as other high officials.  

   At the invitation of Luo Gan, secretary-general of the State Council of
China, the Myanmar SLORC secretary-1 is to stay in China from 7th to 14th
September.

   Luo Gan met Khin Nyunt on 7th September and hosted a banquet in Beijing in
his honour, Xinhua news agency (Beijing, in English 1243 gmt 7 Sep 94) reported.


                            Deutsche Presse-Agentur

                    September 8, 1994, Thursday,  BC Cycle 
                          14:25 Central European Time

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 400 words
HEADLINE: Mons return to Burma

DATELINE: Bangkok, Sept 8
BODY:
    Hundreds of ethnic Mon refugees returned to an uncertain future in Burma
Thursday after being starved out of Thailand, reports said.

    Thisu Aman, of the Mon National Relief Committee, said the refugees, who
have been at the Halockhani camp on the Thai-Burmese border since July, were
forced to return because the Thai army has cut off their food supply since
August 20.  

    "The people are afraid to go back to Burma because we believe there is no
security on the Burmese side. At the same time we cannot stay longer in Thailand
because we are hungry," he said.

    Thailand has a well known stance of permitting Burmese refugees to remain on
Thai soil as long as their lives are in danger inside Burma. The Thai military
recently decided that the Mon refugees, numbering about 6,000 in Halockhani
camp, were not in danger and resolved to force them back by cutting off their
food supply.

    Supply routes to their old camp site inside Burma will be reopened as soon
as the refugees have gone home, military sources said.

    Amnesty International has meanwhile condemned Thailand for its treatment of
political refugees.

    The international human rights organisation Thailand's treatment of Burmese
refugees a "disgrace".  dpa ms

                       Copyright 1994 Xinhua News Agency

The materials in the Xinhua file were compiled by The Xinhua News Agency.
These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of
The Xinhua News Agency.

                          SEPTEMBER 8, 1994, THURSDAY

LENGTH: 142 words

HEADLINE: indonesia wants to help myanmar's tourist industry

DATELINE: yangon, september 8; ITEM NO: 0908080

BODY:
   indonesia wants to help promote myanmar's tourist industry, according to an
official report today.  indonesian ambassador to myanmar mohammed sanoesi made
the remark when he called on myanmar minister for hotels and tourism
lieutenant-general kyaw ba here on wednesday.  the ambassador said that tourists
visiting indonesia could be transported directly to myanmar.  travel groups from
europe can stop for the night in yangon instead of overnight stops in bangkok or
singapore before flying on to jakarta, the ambassador added.  the ambassador
suggested that myanmar take part in pacific and asia travel association for the
promotion of the tourist industry.  myanmar has been making great efforts to
promote tourism in recent years, and myanmar has designated the year 1996 as
"visit myanmar year" expecting 500,000 tourists to visit the country.

                       Copyright 1994 Xinhua News Agency
                          SEPTEMBER 8, 1994, THURSDAY

LENGTH: 229 words

HEADLINE: vice-president meets myanmar visitors

DATELINE: beijing, september 8; ITEM NO: 0908166

BODY:
   chinese vice-president rong yiren said here today that sino-myanmarese
friendly relations should be kept up and passed on from generation to
generation.  rong made the remark this morning when meeting with lt. gen.  khin
nyunt, first secretary of the state law and order restoration council of the
union of myanmar.  during the meeting, in the great hall of the people here,
rong said that despite the changes in the world in recent years, the
relationship between china and myanmar has developed on a normal basis, while
bilateral trade has increased greatly and their economic co-operation has
achieved marked success.  china and myanmar have enjoyed a traditional
friendship initiated by veteran and senior leaders of both countries, rong said,
adding that friendship and co-operation between the two countries serve the
fundamental interests of the two peoples.  the first secretary said that
myanmar and china share a long common border, and the two countries' residents
along the border are living in peace and harmony.  he said that bilateral
friendship, which, he believed, has passed the test of time, is rooted in the
hearts of the two peoples.  the myanmarese government and people appreciate
china's long-term support, the secretary said, and myanmar is willing to make
concerted efforts to solidify and promote its friendship and co-operation with
china.



Michael Beer
mbeer@xxxxxxxxxxx