(Reuters) -Singapore-listed petroleum explorer Interra Resources said on Thursday that a legal advisor it had appointed found that the company had not breached U.S. and EU sanctions in Myanmar.
The advisor’s report follows allegations from activist group Justice for Myanmar that Interra had helped supply the country’s ruling military with oil and contributed to war crimes.
The company said in a statement that the risk of financial impact resulting from any potential violations of sanctions will also be minimal.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering pro-democracy protests that morphed into a widening armed rebellion that has taken over swathes of the country.
Interra holds a participating interest of about 60% in Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company (GJOC), according to its website. GJOC operates two of the onshore producing oil fields in Chauk and Yenangyaung in central Myanmar.
GJOC secured the production-sharing contract for oil exploration and production with Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Myanmar’s state oil and gas enterprise, in late 1996. It was extended for 11 years in April 2017.
In February, Interra had said production-sharing contract between its subsidiary and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise was extended years before the military seized power in 2021.
After the military’s coup in 2021, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on MOGE.
(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
