Myanmar is one of the significant oil and gas producers in the Asian continent and home to one of the world's oldest petroleum industries. In particular, Myanmar managed to export its first crude in 1853, and currently, it is among the leading producers of natural gas in Asia. However, the country has not managed to develop its oil and gas industry into a fundamental contributor to the economy due to several years of poor government policies and investment, sanctions from the international community, and lack of technical capacity. The recent slow political reforms in Myanmar have contributed to lifting economic sanctions by the international community.
Currently, President Thein Sein's government has continued to promise more significant economic reforms that have made several people invest in Myanmar oil and gas industry. For instance, from 2013 to 2014, Myanmar awarded 36 major oil and gas blocks to Western and Eastern companies, mostly working with local companies. Not only that, the government has undertaken other measures such as reducing the income tax rate by 5 percent, issue of production sharing contracts, and launch of a series of licensing rounds. With such reforms, it becomes clear that Myanmar's oil and gas might rise at an unprecedented rate. Fortunately, experts have rated Myanmar as one of the top five oil and gas hotspots globally. Nevertheless, the expertise and technical capacity of Myanmar remains underdeveloped.
To ensure that Myanmar reaches its full potential, Elite Petrochemical has undertaken taken advantage of the limited technology by investing more in Myanmar oil and gas products. For instance, Elite Petrochemical managed to launch its port facility and terminal at Thilawa Special economic zone in 2018. Surprisingly, the terminal was the first LPG investment undertaken by the private sector. Due to the rising LPG demands, the company decided to build the terminal in two phases. The first phase involves storage facilities that can accommodate 3000 tonnes of LPG and 2000 tonne jetty. After the company completed its first phase, several vessels have managed to dock at the port, assisting it in expanding its LPG supply to interior parts of Myanmar state.