Myanmar gas exports to rise on ramping up of new China pipeline

Myanmar's earnings from natural gas exports fell in the last fiscal year as more of the resource was consumed domestically, but shipments of greater volumes to China as a new pipeline comes up to speed are expected to boost earnings this year, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing local authorities.

Myanmar earned $3.3 billion from the export of gas during the 2013-14 (April-March) fiscal year, down from $3.67 billion in 2012-13, according to data released on Wednesday by Myanmar's Central Statistical Organization.

Gas exports are a crucial revenue source for the Southeast Asian nation, accounting for nearly 30 percent of its total exports of $11.2 billion in the last fiscal year.

Win Maw, a senior energy official, said the drop in exports in the last fiscal year was due to the increasing domestic consumption.

He said a small amount of the gas was exported in 2013-14 to China but more will be exported this year as a new cross-country pipeline is filled to capacity.

"We started selling gas from Rakhine Offshore Blocks to China through the 793 kilometer-long cross-country pipeline around the end of last year, but the amount was rather small since it was not technically feasible to send much through a new pipeline," Win Maw said.

"Technically, we need to fill up a new pipeline with gas gradually and it takes about a year to fill to capacity. Around the end of this year, we'll be able to transport to China through the pipeline to full capacity," he said.

Domestic power consumption in Myanmar has been rising steeply as the country has undertaken economic reforms since a quasi-military government took office in 2011 after nearly five decades of military rule.

"As the official data shows, domestic demand for electricity is growing speedily, but we have prepared to increase generation to meet the demand without affecting gas exports," said a senior official from the Ministry of Electric Power.