Norway ups Burma oil investments | Democratic Voice of Burma HomeNewsEconomicsEnvironmentHealthMediaPolitics  Opinion & AnalysisInterviewPhotosDVB TV Burmese Language     Saturday, 26 January 2013Subscribe to our Feed                Norway ups Burma oil investments Share Comments (3)Tweet   By FRANCIS WADEPublished: 24 March 2011Norway's state-owned Pension Fund holds shares in 15 energy companies operating in Burma (ERI) Figures released last week by the Norwegian government show that investments in oil and gas companies operating in Burma stand at close to $US5 billion, despite heavy opposition from rights groups.The new sum marks an increase of around $US300 million on last year’s figures. The state-owned investment body, the Norwegian Pension Fund, holds shares in 15 energy companies in Burma, a position that the campaign group Norwegian Burma Committee this week criticised as “double morale”.The Fund, which was founded on the country’s North Sea oil wealth, was the focus of a damming report in December last year by EarthRights International (ERI), who accused it of “contributing to grave unethical actions in Burma” through its investments.The revelation coincides with reports of several extra-judicial executions last month close to pipelines operated by two overseas companies, the US-based Chevron and French oil giant, Total. Both are targets of investment by the Fund, which has shares of more than $US2 billion in Total and $US0.9 billon in Chevron.It has also doubled its stake in the controversial Swiss-American drilling firm Transocean, which is being investigated by the US for its work with a consortium of Burmese companies that includes a firm owned by junta crony Steven Law, who is a target of US sanctions.ERI, which has been monitoring the impact of the Yadana and Yetagun gas pipelines in Burma’s southern Tenasserim division, released a statement yesterday in which it claimed an ethnic Karen man had been killed by Burmese troops close to the pipelines. Both Total and Chevron, who operate the Yadana pipeline in partnership with Thailand’s state-owned PTTE and the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), are known to use Burmese army units as security for their operations.Eight of the 15 companies, including Transocean, have seen increased investment from the Fund, while six have seen a reduction and one remains the same.Its shares in Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries have soared from $US11.5 million to $US173 million, while its holdings in PetroChina now top $US100 million, information obtained by ERI shows.What these companies have in common is their involvement in the controversial Shwe dual pipeline project, which will transport Burmese gas and Middle Eastern and African oil across the breadth of the country to southern China. The campaigning group Shwe Gas Movement (SGM) claims the project has dramatically increased military presence along the pipeline route and caused the forcible relocation of hundreds of civilians.Matthew Smith, senior consultant at ERI, said the increase in investments by the Pension Fund “is indiscriminate of the ethical considerations – that [the Fund doesn’t] determine whether or not to increase their holdings based on ethnical decisions”.Significant chunks of the Shwe pipeline and the Yadana-Yetagun pipelines, which transport gas to Thailand, run through military zones, where incidents such as the killing of the Karen man in February are common. Smith said however that such risks are an issue “these companies have consistently tried to deny in communications with their investors and other interested parties”.The Pension Fund in March 2007 disinvested from the Chinese company Dongfeng following evidence that it had been supplying trucks to the Burmese military.Norway was one of the first countries to accept Burmese refugees following the 1988 uprising, and in 1991 awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Tags: burma, gas, myanmar, norway, oil, shwe Author: FRANCIS WADE              Category: Economics, News CommentsGarrett says:  March 24, 2011 at 5:48 pm “Norway was one of the first countries to accept Burmese refugees following the 1988 uprising, and in 1991 awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.”It would be very disturbing to find out that Norway had been investing in Burma prior to 1988.I have always wondered why Mahatma Gandhi, the originator of nonviolent protest had been shunned by the Nobel Peace Prize committee. I think it may have been that the Nobel committee was more concerned with saving the lives of nonviolent Indian protesters who would have been killed in the streets, than they were with seeing the Indian people freed from the brutal British colonial government.Why then would they award Aung San Suu Kyi the Peace Prize for advocating the same peaceful nonviolent tactics, which would have certainly been met with the same brutality? Was it part of a conspiracy with the regime to extinguish the bonfire of freedom lit in 1988 & preempt Aung San Suu Kyi from calling for nonviolent protests which would claim thousands of lives snuffed-out by the order of their regime business partners, endangering Norway’s agenda to invest in the rape of Burma’s natural resources by the Burmese military regime?Or did the Burmese military regime merely pay Norway for Daw Suu’s Peace prize in order to give the people the hopes that with Daw Suu’s Peace prize, the bloody nonviolent protests would not be needed?Either way, the Nobel Peace prize together with Daw Suu’s incarceration by the SPDC regime effectively silenced the protests with no further bloodshed.Whether Norway was investing in Burma at the time, or later seized the lucrative opportunity they helped to create, the Norwegian duality of supporting tyranny @99% and freedom @1% certainly seems to show where their loyalties, AND priorities lie. Norway did help save the lives of thousands of nonviolent protesters, even if millions have died since 1991 as the direct result of SPDC greed, brutality, &…   naing win says:  March 24, 2011 at 8:07 pm Burmese don,t like criticize of other nations.It,s best way which is Norwaygien company chose to help with economic.When people have to get the jobb,so half parten of problem will be soleved by economic way.I think its the better then criticize.Burmese like it.   Billy says:  March 29, 2011 at 5:10 pm The companies Norway invests in are connected to the Yadana pipeline project which has already plenty of human rights abuses documented…and is – according to several sources – one of the regime’s largest sources of income… Norway is definitely two-faced!     Click here to cancel reply. Name (required)Email Address (required)Website (optional)  CommentPlease note: Comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment.   characters available       Other Economics, News StoriesBurma forms committee to tackle corruptionJapan pledges debt relief, loans to BurmaBurma could be Asia’s next rising star: IMFUS-Burma detente threatens China: expertsBusiness owners call out authorities over loan programmeJapan calls on int’l creditors to support BurmaRice association denies role in stockpile scandal DVB TVGrowing up on the streets of Mandalay is tough. Many of the children sniff glue as a way to escape and to forget about the hunger. With no one to help them they are vulnerable to abuse and harder drugs. MOST READ STORIES Home China ups weapons transfers to Wa army President bows to parliament on controversial new law Dozens detained for ‘unlawful’ contact with Kachin rebels MPs call for end to Kachin conflict Burmese army continues to target rebel positions near Laiza         You need to log in to voteThe blog owner requires users to be logged in to be able to vote for this post.Alternatively, if you do not have an account yet you can create one here.Powered by Vote It UpHomeAboutContactDonate – Support our work!NewsletterBorder Childhoods  COPYRIGHT © 2010 .    Website by: Mercury Creative   Marquee Content Powered By Know How Media