Military-ruled Myanmar earned $800 million from natural gas exports mainly to China and Thailand, between April and July, the junta said in the state newspaper on Thursday.
The country has been embroiled in chaos since the military overthrew an elected government in a coup early last year and the economy has all but collapsed.
The junta has scrambled to shore up foreign exchange reserves as the Myanmar kyat slumps in value and inflation rises, ordering companies to convert their foreign currency into local and defer foreign loan payments. Read full story
The junta-run Commerce Ministry said 77.89 million kilolitres of natural gas were exported through gas pipelines in four months, mainly from four offshore projects - the Yadana, Yedagun, Shwe, and Zawtika production rigs.
Income from gas exports was $60.7 million higher than the same period last year, the ministry said.
The majority of exports went to Thailand and China, the state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Pcl PTTEP.BK produces and exports natural gas from the Yadana, Yetagun, and Zawtika fields. Myanmar accounts for about 14% of Thailand's natural gas needs.
Oil majors Chevron Corp and TotalEnergies in January withdrew from Myanmar, citing worsening humanitarian conditions following last year's coup. In May, Thailand's PTTEP said it would take over operations of the Yadana field after TotalEnergies' exit.
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Additional reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Richard Pullin)
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