Chevron Lobbies U.S. Officials to Protect its Energy Interests in Myanmar, as Sanctions Pressure Rises

Richard Valdmanis
April 22, 2021

Chevron’s affiliate in Myanmar, Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co. Ltd. (UMOCL), has a 28.3 percent ownership interest in a production sharing contract (PSC) for the production of natural gas from the Yadana, Badamyar and Sein fields, within Blocks M5 and M6, in the Andaman Sea Photo: Yadana Platform / File Photo: Total - Photographer: GLADIEU STEPHAN

U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp lobbied lawmakers and government officials to protect its energy interests in Myanmar during the first quarter, as the administration of President Joe Biden comes under pressure to impose sanctions against the south Asian country’s military junta, according to federal disclosures.

Chevron is among a handful of international oil and gas companies with big stakes in Myanmar’s energy riches, which have become a crucial source of revenue for military rulers who seized power in February and imposed a bloody crackdown on political protests.

Chevron Lobbies to Head Off New Sanctions on Myanma

The New York Times

By Kenneth P. Vogel and Lara Jakes
April 22, 2021

The oil company is arguing against efforts to restrict its involvement in a gas operation in Myanmar that provides funding for the junta there.

Chevron, the United States’ second-largest oil and gas producer, has a long history of investing heavily in Washington influence.Credit...Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

WASHINGTON — The Myanmar military’s coup and brutal crackdown on dissent have left it with few allies in the West. But one of the most sophisticated corporate lobbying operations in Washington has mobilized to head off intensifying pressure on the Biden administration to impose broad sanctions against the state-owned oil and gas company helping to finance the junta.

Chevron has dispatched lobbyists — including some former federal government officials, one of whom appears to have left the State Department just last month — to agencies including the State Department and key congressional offices to warn against any sanctions that might disrupt its operations in Myanmar, according to four people familiar with the lobbying.