Unocal says no pullout

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

US-Burma-Unocal : US oil company chief slams US sanctions on Burma, says no 
pullout

TIWI, Philippines, April 24 (AFP) - Union Oil of California (Unocal) chairman 
Roger Beach on Thursday criticized US economic sanctions on Burma and insisted 
the energy giant will not pull out its investments there.

"Despite the sanctions, we will continue with our projects in Myanmar 
(Burma)," said Beach, who was visiting a geothermal plant operated by Unocal's 
local subsidiary in this eastern town.

He also described the sanctions, announced by US Secretary of State Madeleine 
Albright in Washington on Tuesday, as "unfortunate" and a "bad policy."

"It does not dampen our ... commitment in Southeast Asia," said Beach, who is 
Unocal's board chairman and chief executive officer.

US interests in Burma are led by oil giant Unocal, which is a partner in a 1.2 
billion dollar natural gas project along with French-owned Total.

The United States on Tuesday slapped a ban on new investment in Burma, 
blasting the military regime in Rangoon for engineering a "state of 
large-scale repression."

In announcing the ban, Albright faulted the ruling junta for "severely" 
restricting Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's ability to address her 
supporters and cited cases of arrests and harassment of opposition activists.

Unocal said in a statement on Tuesday "we do not expect that the 
administration's directive against new investments in Myanmar will have a 
material affect on our current involvement in the Yadana natural gas project."