SLP Environmental is part of the technical assistance team awarded the contract to prepare EIA Guidelines for Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Developments in Myanmar on behalf of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) under the auspices of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines are dual purpose in that they are being developed to provide guidance to project proponents preparing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Initial Environmental Examinations (IEE) for onshore and offshore projects in Myanmar, and to assist the Environmental Conservation Department (ECD) in their review of submitted EIAs and IEEs.

The Guidelines cover onshore and offshore oil and gas activities from exploratory surveys through to abandonment, including:

• seismic surveys
• exploration, appraisal and production drilling and production activities
• oil and gas gathering pipelines and high pressure transmission pipelines including connected pump and compression stations
• production, storage and offloading facilities offshore
• production and storage facilities onshore (i.e. separation, drying and stabilisation for onward transmission/export)
• oil and natural gas terminals, and
• ancillary supply/support services

The guidelines present an overview of oil and gas activities in Myanmar and a summary of the key environmental and social issues in Myanmar that are likely to need to be considered in EIAs. They also contain an overview of the existing regulatory framework and statutory guidelines and provide additional and complementary guidance on the oil and gas specific aspects that will need to be addressed when preparing EIAs and IEEs for submittal to the regulators.

The guidelines also contain a checklist of the key components that project proponents should ensure are included in all submitted EIAs and IEEs for oil and gas development projects proposed for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.