Demand Chevron: Stop Bankrolling the Myanmar Military

Michael Wirth, CEO, Chevron

Demand Chevron stop bankrolling the Myanmar military.

As Myanmar’s generals look for revenues to prop up their new dictatorship following the February 1 coup, there’s one source of money they can count on: natural gas projects backed by foreign investors including France’s Total and Chevron of the US, South Korea’s Posco and Malaysia’s Petronas.

Myanmar earns close to US$1 billion a year from natural gas sales. Much of this money flows through Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a state-owned enterprise with deep links to the military’s business empire. Alarmingly, the recent military coup places MOGE and the rest of the government under direct military control.

Chevron is the largest U.S. corporate investor in Burma (Myanmar). In partnership with Total of France, PTT of Thailand, and the Burmese government-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Chevron owns the Yadana gas field and pipeline. Yadana is one of the military’s largest sources of revenue, bankrolling up to 70 percent of its operations in years past.

Moreover, Chevron has long used its powerful and sophisticated lobbying machine to block US sanctions on the Myanmar military. Chevron’s lobbying is a significant assist to Myanmar’s military, which has little to no presence of its own in Washington.

On April 27th, 2021, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, led by Jeff Merkley (D, Oregon) and Marco Rubio (R, Florida) called on the Biden Administration to stop money from flowing from American businesses to the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

The people of Myanmar have mobilized against the military coup through a campaign of civil disobedience, boycotts of military-owned companies, and pressure on foreign companies - such as Chevron, Total, and Posco - to stop supporitng the Junta. Now, more than ever, let's pressure Chevron until it stops bankrolling the Myanmar military.

For more information:

Check out - and follow - the Facebook page of our key ally in Myanmar, the Blood Money Campaign

"Justice For Myanmar responds to suspension of Yadana pipeline dividends," Justice For Myanmar, 27 May 2021

"Open letter: Chevron's business operations in Myanmar," 23 March 2021

"How Oil and Gas Majors Bankroll the Myanmar Military Regime," Justice For Myanmar, 8 February 2021

"Total Impact: The Human Rights, Environmental, and Financial Impacts of Total and Chevron’s Yadana Gas Project in Military Ruled Burma (Myanmar)," EarthRights International, September 2009

PETITION BY

To: Michael Wirth, CEO, Chevron
From: [Your Name]

I demand that Chevron cut immediately all commercial ties to Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and stop bankrolling the Myanmar military.

As Myanmar’s generals look for revenues to prop up their new dictatorship following the February 1 coup, there’s one source of money they can count on: natural gas projects backed by foreign investors such as Chevron.

Myanmar earns close to US$1 billion a year from natural gas sales.

Much of this money is not paid directly from oil companies to the government. It flows through Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a state-owned enterprise with deep links to the military’s business empire. Alarmingly, the recent military coup places MOGE and the rest of the government under direct military control.

Chevron is the largest U.S. corporate investor in Burma (Myanmar). In partnership with Total of France and the Burmese government-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Chevron owns the Yadana gas field and pipeline that generates billions of dollars for the Burmese government. In March 2015, Chevron entered into an additional production sharing contract with MOGE to explore in the Rakhine Basin off the coast of Rakhine State.

The people of Myanmar have mobilised against dictatorship through a national campaign of civil disobedience and boycotts against military-owned products. Even MOGE's own staff are publicly protesting. We must back up the peoples of Myanmar in their struggle against the Myanmar military dictators.

It is time for Chevron to side with the peoples of Myanmar and stop bankrolling the Myanmar military.