Australia's Woodside, Japan's Suzuki Motor halt some activity in Myanmar (updated)

Posco International

02/02/2021 07:30

* Access to some infrastructure limited - Woodside official
    * Woodside planned to drill three wells offshore Myanmar
this year
    * Suzuki Moto says ops in plants remain suspended

 (Adds details on Suzuki, Mitsubishi, background)
    By Sonali Paul
    MELBOURNE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Petroleum
 WPL.AX  said it had put some activity on hold in Myanmar after
generals seized power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, while Japan's Suzuki Motor  7269.T  said operations at two
plants remained suspended.
    Companies across the world with business interests in the
South East Asian country are scrambling to assess the turmoil as
the military coup sparked global outrage and the United States
threatened to reimpose sanctions on the generals.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2K75GX
    "Access to some infrastructure is limited and as a result we
have postponed some logistical activities while we await further
clarity," a Woodside spokeswoman said in emailed comments on
Tuesday, but declined to provide details on what activities were
on hold.
    Woodside, which has been working with French giant Total SA
 TOTF.PA  and Myanmar-based MPRL E&P to develop Myanmar's first
ultra-deep water gas project known as A-6, said it was
monitoring the changing situation in the country.
    Woodside, which says on its website that since 2014 it has
invested more than $400 million in Myanmar, has fewer than 100
direct employees and dependents in the country, some of whom are
expatriates. 
    All Woodside employees were accounted for and safe, the
spokeswoman said.
    The A-6 gas development is one of Woodside's medium-term
growth projects, with a plan to pipe gas from the ultra-deep
water field onshore to Myanmar and Thailand.
    Companies such as Singapore's Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp
 OCBC.SI  and POSCO International  047050.KS  closed their
offices and asked employees in Myanmar to work from home, while
some firms reported intermittent disruptions to their business.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2K70UV
    Suzuki, which halted operations at the plants on Monday
afternoon and asked all employees to go home, will make further
decisions based on the situation, a spokesman told Reuters on
Tuesday. 
    Rival Mitsubishi Motors  7211.T , which plans to open an
operation in Myanmar to help assemble cars, said on a
post-earnings call on Tuesday that there were no changes in its
plans for now.
    

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WRAPUP-Myanmar generals tighten grip on power as U.S. calls for
sanctions     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2K75GX
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 (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Additional reporting by Eimi
Yamamitsu in Tokyo; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and David Evans)
 ((Sonali.Paul@thomsonreuters.com; +61 407 119 523;))