BIOGRAPHY

Zayar Aung was named Myanmar’s Union Minister of Energy in 2013, marking another step in a long career of public service. Previously, he served as Union Minister of Rail Transportation (named 2012), commander of the Northern Command (named 2010), commandant of the Defense Services Academy (named 2007), and chief instructor of nursing and paramedical studies (named 2003).

He also chairs the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), a semi-autonomous 13-member body that was restructured recently in an effort to attract more foreign investment. The MIC issues registration permits under the Myanmar Foreign Investment Law that can provide tax and customs duty holidays of up to three years for major investors in designated sectors.
Zayar Aung graduated with honors in war studies at PSC in Pakistan, and holds a Master’s degree in defense studies.

ministry of energy

Myanmar’s Ministry of Energy is the government body entrusted with the primary responsibility for overseeing the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. It is also responsible for petroleum derivatives and petrochemicals production and the transportation and distribution of petroleum products.

Beneath the minister’s office the ministry is organized into three operational areas plus an Energy Planning Department (EPD) and an ICT section. The operational areas are the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the Myanmar Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE), and the Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE). These are effectively state-owned enterprises, and broadly speaking they are responsible for, respectively, upstream activities, refining and petrochemicals, and distribution.

The MOGE participates in and supervises production-sharing agreements in cooperation with foreign oil producers – Myanmar has more than one hundred blocks operating in cooperation with multinational companies, almost half of them offshore. In addition to supervising refining and petrochemicals production, the MPE authorizes importation as necessary.