New Import Laws for LNG in the Pipeline

“If the role and procedures for each ministry are included in the law and rules, it will be more convenient,” she said.

At a meeting on drafting the law, held by MOGSS at a hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday, MOEE Minister U Pe Zin Tun said, “There will surely be opportunities for private businessmen to participate in LNG business.

This is inevitable.”

The new Myanmar Investment Law and Rules has allowed private investment in additional sectors such as Myanmar’s oil and gas industry and electricity distribution, he said.

Furthermore, there are now more opportunities for private businessmen to compete in the storage and distribution of petroleum products, the minister said.

“When the ministry considers energy matters, the right to choose should also be taken into account. If energy policy is drawn up in compliance with economic policy, it will be more beneficial to the nation’s economy,” Daw Hnin Phyu Phyu Aung said.

The MOEE announced that it lost US$400 million in the electricity sector during fiscal year 2016-17. To recover the losses, the ministry would have to choose LNG as an option.

“Regarding LNG imports, people think it is very expensive to generate electricity from gas. In reality, if we have a 20 or 30 year plan, if electricity tariff for the industry increases to K150, then it can be sold at a reasonable price. They can sell without losses,” she said.

NLD secretary U Win Htein, who attended the meeting, said, “In some cases, we have to subsidise due to the public interest. The government has a policy to subsidise if appropriate; airlines and rail services have losses but they cannot be stopped because of losses. In the public interest, it has to continue to subsidise the electricity sector. But we have to reduce the losses.”