Parami Calls for Revised National Environmental Policy, HSE Standards in Myanmar

11 Feb 2014 – LONDON – Ken Tun, CEO of the Parami Energy Group of Companies, an indigenous group of companies with a strong hold in Myanmar’s Oil & Gas sector, outlined the need for a revised National Environmental Policy in Myanmar. Tun believes that to protect local infrastructure and to develop the industry in a sustainable manner, it is timely for revisions to be made to the policy. 

Expressing his beliefs in an interview conducted with The CWC Group’s Senior Producer and Project Manager Gurpreet Hayre, Tun said that the government should also involve new operators in setting standards for the policy and to set HSE requirements. He urged that Myanmar’s government should draft a policy document with local content, in a timely manner, so that supporting industries which are being developed locally can grow in a sustainable manner.

Qualifying this statement, he said “Obviously, there is the great interest here in Myanmar and I see Myanmar will play a very big role in upstream sector regionally. We will have super packed exploration programs in the years ahead. The operators I think will be able to come up with more HSE requirements, and higher Environmental standards. It is now time for the government to come up with a revised National Environmental Policy, addressing the energy sector, with the help of these operators.”

Tun said that “Developing business for local companies in the oil and gas sector still has its challenges. Steady progress is being made but it is a long and painful process to acquire the jobs, execute and deliver up to the expectation of owners and yet sustain profitability. Some of our projects did not make money but we still delivered as promised as we are very hungry for experience and reputation.”

He added “The Oil & Gas industry in Myanmar is so small that any mistake you make can be visible to anyone in very short period of time. Even big service companies cannot escape that.”

“Operators and the Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE) are very strict in terms of disqualifying the companies which cannot meet deadlines or perform the job. If you cannot perform one job, you are out [of consideration] for the next job. You can see some examples of this in the EPC and Seismic business in Myanmar.”

Tun expressed that it is still a challenge for local companies to move up the value chain by offering international standards service. Supplier education programs are needed, such as HSE certification, procurement procedures, and other forms of training to help future operators to gain more confidence in local companies.

Parami take their Corporate Sustainability Responsibilities very seriously. They get involved in the process of development, to ensure that the projects they support help social development in a sustainable manner. They help rural people with ways to sustain their lives with the changes around them. Tun describes it as ““We give a man half a fish to have his stomach half full and then teach them how to fish.” 

Some of Parami’s initiatives include planting a total of 500,000 trees. To date they have planted 300,000 trees, of which 100,000 trees were planted in 2013. In 2013, Parami also helped 1,000 children obtain a monastery school education in the Shan and Karen states and they organized and financed 11 workshops to help local business communities to learn about the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

Tun said that “Looking ahead, we might beat our target of planting 500,000 trees by 2015. In 2014, we plan to support an additional 70 monastic schools and organize 7 AEC workshops.”

Parami is also cognizant of their responsibilities to build a sustainable industry. Tun made mention that “There is obviously shortage of local qualified people in our sector. Yet, more than 50% of our population are of young working age.  Offering education, vocational and professional training is very important for our industry to make it sustainable.”

Parami Energy is brainstorming ideas to convert this readily available local resource to generate income nationally from the energy sector. Ideas are welcome to address this opportunity.

Parami Energy is the official Local Partner of the 2^nd Myanmar Oil & Gas Upstream Summit, to be held in Yangon, 28-30 October 2014. The event is endorsed by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. To learn more about the event, visit cwcmyanmar.com.