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re Total closes Yadana deal



>
>Total signs final export sales agreements to sell Burma offshore gas
to Thai=92s Petroleum Authority, February 2 1995 (UVI.net, Paris)
by Dawn Star
>PARIS - Rebutting international furry over allegations that the
Burmesejunta engages in a national campaign of forced labor, Total
France,the giant French gas and oil company, declared that the Myanmar
Oil and Gas
>Enterprises (MOGE), Total, Unocal, the Petroleum Authority =

>of Thailand Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd (PTTEP),
>nonetheless, had recently signed an export gas sales agreemnt with the
>Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT). In the deal, the group agress
to
>sell to PTT natural gas produced from the controversial Yadana
offshore
>field. =

>
>The agreement is the conclusion of a process that  follows last
>September=92s  signing in of memorandum of understanding giving Total an=

>edge over its partners. According to Total=92s press office at the
>company=92s Paris headquarters, since Thailand=92s PTTEP exercised its
>option to take an interest in the project, the present ownership
>structure is divided accordingly with Total, 36,75%, Unocal, 33,25%,
>PTTEP, 30%. However, Burma=92s national oil company, MOGE, retains an
>option to acquire up to a 15% interest in the project, which would thus
>reduce the  different partners=92 overall stake. Total=92s share would d=
rop
>to 31,2%, accordingly.
>
>Disregarding the democratic opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize
>laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi=92s appeal not to invest in Burma at this
>time, the development of the Yadana field falls within a carefully
>planned overall strategy by Total=92s senior management to extend the
>company=92s operations throughout Southeast Asian energy markets. Couple=
d
>with its existing natual gas production from Thailand=92s Bongkot field,=

>and   virtually ignoring reports in the international press and UN
>resolutions over the pipeline=92s alleged use of forced labor by the
>Slorc military regime, Total  is betting that this latest development
>will secure it a profitable future as a leading energy supplier to
>Thailand.
>
>Since the Burmese government does not have trained engineers or
>technicians capable to supervise and manage their part of the pipeline,
> the French company has assumed full responsability as both operator
>for the development of the field, and, as well, on the pipleline to the
>Thai border, with PTT  controlling operation of the pipeline within
>Thailand. With the country plunged between warring factions, Total is
>certain to risk more incidents of the kind that occured last March when
>five Total workers were killed and 11 injured by ethnic Karen rebels
>seeking revenge for the forced explusion of local villages along the
>pipeline route, and outbreaks of violence last month that left at least
>one death among security forces guarding the pipeline.
>
>Terms of the  contract, says Total, give the French full authority to =AB=

>take all the necessary actions to ensure that deliveries to PTT will
>begin by the scheduled date of July 1, 1998 =BB. From the initial rate o=
f
>65 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), deliveries are expected to rise
>progressively over the next fourteen months to a plateau level of 525
>million cubic feet per day. =

>
>Total=92s contract covers the next thirty years, with the gas to be
>delivered to the Ratchaburi region, where it will then be used to fire
>a 2,800 megawatt power plan managed by the Electricity Generating
>Authority of Thailand (EGAT). According to Total, production from the
>Yadana field, over the long term, may rise to 650 million cubic feet
>per day, with the additional output being used to supply Burma=92s
>domestic energy demand. The question, however, remains : will Total be
>forced to engage mercenary security forces to further protect its
>investment, thus propping up Burma=92s declining economy in order to
>fulfill its grand energy plan for South Asia=92s, at the cost of million=
s
>of suffering Burmese people who have been denied political freedom and
>a  voice in determining the future of Burma=92s economic development.
>
>-END
>***********************************************************************
>
>
>What is the world waiting for?
>Dawn Star
>Friends of Burma
>Free Burma Action Group France
>Burma Net Pipeline (Total) Coordinator
>
>UVI.net Magazine / Cybernet World
>Inter@ctive Net Editions
>cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>11 bis rue du Colisee Paris France  75008
>tel  (33 1) 43 29 27 18; fax (33 1) 43 29 32 =



What is the world waiting for?
Dawn Star
Friends of Burma
Free Burma Action Group France
Burma Net Pipeline (Total) Coordinator

UVI.net Magazine / Cybernet World
Inter@ctive Net Editions
cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
11 bis rue du Colisee Paris France  75008
tel  (33 1) 43 29 27 18; fax (33 1) 43 29 32 4