Rights groups have called on Singapore-based oil company Puma Energy to commit to “responsible disengagement” after it announced its exit from Myanmar on Wednesday.
Puma Energy said in a statement that it had decided to sell its stake in the joint venture Puma Energy Asia Sun (PEAS) and its minority share in the National Energy Puma Aviation Services (NEPAS) to a locally owned private company. NEPAS is operated in partnership with the junta-controlled Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise.
Through these ventures, Puma Energy has been Myanmar’s main supplier of aviation fuel since it commenced operations in 2015 and launched a multimillion dollar petroleum product terminal at Thilawa Port in Yangon two years later.
Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s Business and Human Rights Researcher, said that the company’s decision to withdraw from Myanmar follows a long campaign by civil society and rights groups to ban jet fuel from reaching the junta. The fuel supply is critical to the military’s continued perpetration of airstrikes widely used against civilian populations nationwide, and responsible for displacing tens of thousands of people.
Ferrer urged Puma Energy to ensure that the military is prevented from accessing its aviation fuel infrastructure once the company has withdrawn from the country.
“Any valuable assets Puma Energy leaves behind should not fall into the hands of the military or its crony businesses,” he said in a statement.
Since the February 2021 coup, the Myanmar military has relied heavily on air power to attack armed forces opposed to its rule, killing several civilians and members of the resistance.
Ferrer encouraged Puma Energy to identify ways it could “remedy any harm” it may have caused while operating in Myanmar.
Another rights group, Justice For Myanmar, stressed that Puma Energy had not announced the name of the local company to whom it is selling its shares in PEAS and NEPAS and asked that it urgently disclose further details on the matter.
Justice for Myanmar called on the company to engage with civil society groups and the publicly mandated National Unity Government regarding the exit process. The group also urged foreign governments to take immediate action to stop the junta’s “indiscriminate air strikes” by imposing a ban on jet fuel to Myanmar.
Puma Energy is majority-owned by Geneva-based global commodities trader Trafigura. Shortly after the February 2021 coup, Puma Energy said it was suspending its activities in Myanmar. It subsequently resumed operations reportedly for civilian purposes, according to Amnesty International’s statement, which cited information provided by the company.
Editor’s Note: This article originally described Puma Energy as a Singaporean company. While it is registered in Singapore, it is majority-owned by Swiss trader Trafigura. It has been corrected to reflect that.
