Burma's "Golden Gas" Fuels Oppression

This video from Burma reveals the links between ongoing oppression and profits from the oil and gas industries. Revenue Watch grantee the Shwe Gas Movement presents the little-told story of how residents living atop the largest gas deposit in Southeast Asia lack their own electricity and face massive relocation without compensation to make way for a $52 billion gas development.

While the plummeting price of global commodities is slowing new extraction projects elsewhere, the strong demand for energy in China is propelling development of the off-shore Shwe, Shwe-Phyu, and Mya fields (4.5 trillion and 7.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in total). The Burmese military government, which has ruled the country despite many indigenous democracy efforts since 1962, receives significant revenues from the extraction of oil, gas, and precious gems. As the military junta profits, the people of Burma (also known as Myanmar) continue to be mired in oppression, poverty, and declining health and education systems.

For more information about the Shwe Gas Movement and the impact of natural resource revenues in Burma visit their website.