A South Korean-led energy consortium says it has won a major contract to supply China with natural gas from Burmese waters.
The group led by Daewoo International says it will provide the Burmese natural gas to China's state-run oil and gas company CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) for 30 years beginning in 2013. It said the deal is worth $5.6 billion.
Daewoo holds a 51 percent stake in the project, while India's state oil group ONGC has a 17 percent share. Smaller members of the group include Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, Indian gas company GAIL, and South Korea's KOGAS.
The group says it will build offshore platforms and an undersea pipeline to deliver gas from the Shwe and Shwe Phyu fields in Burmese waters to Burma's coast. A land-based pipeline will then transport the gas to China's Yunnan province.
China is hungry for access to Burmese natural resources to feed its booming economy.
The consortium says the deal awaits final approval from Burma's military rulers.
Beijing is one of Burma's few diplomatic allies. It refuses to join Western nations in imposing economic sanctions aimed at pressuring Burma's military leadership to free political prisoners and restore democracy.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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