Myanmar Chemical & Machinery Company (MCM) has submitted a proposal for a new oil refinery in the Dawei Special Economic Zone. The company claims the refinery would have an output of 8 million metric tonnes per annum.

If completed, the so-named “Eight MMTA Refinery” would represent a major development for the in-progress Dawei Special Economic Zone in Thanintharyi Region, which is quickly becoming one of the country’s biggest industrial hubs, especially for Thailand. Thailand has backed the Dawei SEZ since its inception in 2012 and last year loaned Myanmar MMK 226 billion (roughly USD 160 million) for a new highway linking Dawei with the Thai border town of Kanchanaburi.

Domestically, the new refinery could represent an important step in Myanmar’s energy development. Recently, Myanmar has enjoyed some success in exploiting its oil and natural gas reserves, especially in the Bay of Bengal. However, it has almost no refining capacity and imports almost all of its finished fuel products. Fuel imports have surged in recent years as Myanmar struggles to meet its short and long term energy needs. As Chinese and Hong Kong companies are Myanmar’s largest fuel suppliers (especially Hong Kong’s VPower group), this reliance on foreign fuel has only increased Myanmar’s vast Chinese debt. However, U Htin Htoo Nang, secretary of the Dawei SEZ Management Comittee, told the Myanmar Times that the success of the Eight MMTA Refinery would “lay a good foundation for energy security in the country.”