ARCO Withdraws From Burma

[RANGOONP@xxxxxxx]

ARCO withdraws from Myanmar after spending $50 mln

NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Atlantic Richfield Co <A HREF="aol://4785:ARC">
<ARC.N></A> (ARCO) said on Tuesday that it would not renew an exploration
lease offshore Myanmar in which the company had invested $50 million over the
last three years. 

"This will be a complete withdrawal from Myamnar," said Al Greenstein, a
spokesman for ARCO.  

Tuesday's announcement, affecting the M-9 production sharing contract, follows
ARCO's decision in June not to renew its lease for the M-7 contract. ARCO had
signed agreements for the contract in 1995 and 1996. 

ARCO will have spent $50 million on its exploration activities in blocks M-7
and M-9. 

"Our investment in the two blocks will be $50 million," Greenstein said. 

ARCO said on Tuesday that its decision to withdraw completely from Myanmar was
due to economics and was not in response to concerns from human rights groups
and governments about alleged political repression in that country. Those
concerns led the U.S. to impose sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma,
in May 1997. 

"The protests and boycotts were not factors. It was an economic decision, a
strategic one," Greenstein said. 

ARCO said the one of the two wells that was drilled on the M-9 contract
produced some gas, but not sufficient to continue its work.  

"It was not a commercial well," Greenstein said. 

20:18 08-11-98