Almost a century before becoming “the rice bowl of Asia,” Myanmar was already a forerunner of the oil rush, with its first barrel of crude oil exported in 1853. Its geological structure, in fact, makes the country one of Asia’s richest in terms of natural resources. Point-source resources are particularly abundant, including oil, gas, and a wide range of minerals, from base metals and ores to construction materials and precious gems (Table 6). In FY2013, for example, Myanmar exported $3.3 billion worth of natural gas—37% of total exports—and at least $1 billion of jade (estimating the total size of the
mining and gem trade is, however, very difficult,5 with some suggesting that the official-to-unofficial trade ratio could be close to 1:9). The most striking feature of Myanmar’s extractive industry, however, is not the size but its potential. In the short-term, the soon to be commenced extraction from new gas fields will provide additional estimated export revenues of $1.65 billion per year (Ministry of Energy
2014). In the medium- to long-term, exploration of other offshore plots and of the largely unexplored onshore resources will result in a further significant surge in revenues.