CNOOC Burma partner owned by "heroin trafficker" family
26 February 2008
An alert reader draws our attention to this announcement by the United States Treasury, and this statement by President Bush, imposing financial sanctions against Mr Lo Hsing Han (Mr Lo), his son Steven Law (also known as Tun Myint Naing), and Law's wife Cecilia Ng, and various companies under their control, for providing support to the military junta currently ruling Burma.
The Treasury says it has identified ten private companies in Singapore held by Cecilia Ng, including Golden Aaron Pte. Ltd (Golden Aaron), which it is sanctioning. The designation freezes any assets which are subject to US jurisdiction and prohibits all commercial transactions by any U.S. person (including US banks) with the designated persons.
According to the US Government:
"In addition to their support for the Burmese regime, Steven Law and Lo Hsing Han have a history of involvement in illicit activities. Lo Hsing Han, known as the "Godfather of Heroin," has been one of the world's key heroin traffickers dating back to the early 1970s. Steven Law joined his father's drug empire in the 1990s and has since become one of the wealthiest individuals in Burma."
What the Treasury didn't mention, but we can tell you, is that Golden Aaron is the joint venture partner of Chinese government-controlled CNOOC Ltd (CNOOC, HK: 00883, NYSE:CEO) in exploring for oil and gas in Myanmar. According to an article in the Myanmar official daily, the first contract was signed on 22-Oct-04 in a ceremony attended by CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu and Golden Aaron director Mr Chua Chay Jin.
Incidentally, the only other reference we can find to "Chua Chay Jin" also relates to Myanmar - back on 27-Apr-98, he visited a Myanmar ministry when he was General Manager of Myanmar Kuok Oils and Grains Ltd, presumably related to Singapore-based Kuok Oils & Grains Pte Ltd, part of the privately-held Kerry Group controlled by Robert Kuok, who also controls SCMP Group Ltd (0583), Kerry Properties Ltd (0683) and Shangri-la Asia Ltd (00069), which owns 59.16% of Traders Yangon Co Ltd, which owns the Traders Hotel Yangon, Myanamar, opened in Nov-96. It is reportedly part-owned by Mr Lo's Asia World Co. Ltd conglomerate.
According to the PRC-run People's Daily (16-Dec-04), CNOOC Myanmar Ltd, Golden Aaron and China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corp had signed contracts with Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise to explore two offshore oil and natural gas fields.
CNOOC's 2004 annual report states (p16):
"The Company [CNOOC], Golden Aaron Pte. Ltd. of Singapore and China Global Engineering Corporation formed a joint venture and entered into three PSC [Production Sharing Contract] contracts with Myanmar. The Company will serve as the operator."
The 2005 annual report stated that 324 kilometers of 2D seismic data were acquired in Block M in Myanmar. By then, CNOOC's portfolio had increased to 6 exploration licenses, one of which expired on 23-Apr-06. According to the 2006 annual report, the 5 remaining licenses covered 73,152 sq km and were due to expire by 12-Mar-08, 15 days from now, unless they have been renewed.
CNOOC has never stated who owns Golden Aaron, or why Golden Aaron was involved in the project. We can thank the US Treasury for that information. According to them, CNOOC's joint venture partner is held by the daughter-in-law of a Burmese heroin trafficker who in turn has close relations with the Burmese junta.
© Webb-site.com, 2008
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