Natural Resources and Violent Conflict - WaterWiki.net

344 john brayOne of the main dilemmas facing companies operating in countriessuch as Myanmar concerns the extent to which they are responsible,directly or indirectly, for the activities of government security forces,which by definition operate under the command of the authorities andnot the company. This is one of the key issues in the Alien Torts ClaimsAct legal case against Unocal. Lawyers acting on behalf of the plaintiffsargue that the company was aware of and benefited from thearmy’s operations in the pipeline region. They maintain that this awarenessamounted to a form of complicity. The companies do not acceptthis argument, but Premier acknowledges the importance of humanrights in its code of conduct and has sponsored human rights training formembers of the Myanmar armed forces and the police (Murray 2002).Questions for the Future. In late 2002 Premier announced that itwas selling its assets in Myanmar to Petronas. Its decision to sell wasmotivated by commercial considerations, and the sale fits the patternwhereby junior companies concentrate on exploration, develop projectsto a certain stage, and then sell out to other countries at a suitable profit.Whatever the case, the company’s withdrawal from Myanmar lifts areputational burden. The outcome is similar to the Sudan case in that aWestern junior has sold out to an Asian company that is far less exposedto pressure from nongovernmental organizations.One question for the future concerns Petronas’s continuing commitmentto the social projects that Premier has started. Petronas’s websiteaffirms its commitment to community initiatives in its home country,and this experience should provide a good basis for a similar commitmentin its international operations.The wider questions concerning Myanmar’s political future, and therole played by commercial constructive engagement, remain unresolved.It would, in any case, be unrealistic to expect companies to be primemovers. They may help or hinder, but the country’s political leaders—whether civilian or military—will be the prime decisionmakers.Chad-Cameroon PipelineThe Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project isone of the largest in Africa. It differs from the Sudan and Myanmarexamples in that it has yet to come into production. Its sponsors hopethat they will learn from the experience of other countries and avoid theproblems associated with a sudden “resource boom.” The project involvesinvestment in the development of oil fields at Doba in southernChad at a cost of $1.5 billion and the construction of a 1,070-kilometerpipeline to offshore oil-loading facilities on Cameroon’s Atlantic coast ata cost of $2.2 billion (World Bank 2002). The project could earn as much