Myanmar: Gas reserves prop up economy

Although the United States and European countries have slapped economic sanctions on Myanmar, the country has plentiful natural resources, such as natural gas and oil.

In the Andaman Sea to the south of the country, large gas fields have been found recently, and neighboring countries such as China, India and Thailand have been competing to develop the gas fields since 2004.
According to the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, an independent administrative body, Myanmar’s natural gas reserves were estimated to be about 538 billion cubic meters as of the end of 2006.

The figure represents the third-largest reserves in Southeast Asia, following Indonesia and Malaysia.

Natural gas accounted for 30.2 percent of Myanmar’s exports in fiscal 2005, making it an important source of foreign currency for the country.

However, gas accounts for such a high proportion of the overall trade figure is partly because the nation has been suffering from sluggish exports of its agricultural commodities and clothing due to economic sanctions, which include a complete trade embargo by the United States, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.

Daily Yomiuri