Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing attended the re-opening ceremony of the Thanlyin Oil Refinery (Phase 1) in Yangon Region’s Thanlyin Township on Wednesday. Thanlyin is located nine miles (14 km) southeast of Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon.
“The refinery is a vital step towards reducing foreign currency expenditure, supplying domestic energy needs and sustaining long-term economic benefits,” Min Aung Hlaing said in his opening remarks at the ceremony in Yangon on Oct. 14.
The refinery, operating under the regime’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MoEE), is designed to process 500,000 tons of crude oil annually. Following the first two phases, which is scheduled for 2028, total annual processing capacity is expected to reach three million tons.
The MoEE estimates the completed project could meet about 43 per cent of Myanmar’s total demand for petroleum products. The country imports about five million tons of fuel annually, costing over five billion USD, the regime’s Ministry of Information reported in April.
The Thanlyin oil refinery, located on the outskirts of Yangon, dates back to the British colonial era, with construction beginning in 1925. Its operations were suspended in 2017 during the National League for Democracy (NLD) government due to inadequate crude-oil supplies, ageing infrastructure and concerns over product quality.
The Thanlyin oil refinery is being revived with help from Chinese companies to reduce the Myanmar military’s reliance on imported jet fuel, which is vulnerable to international sanctions, foreign-currency shortages and price fluctuations in the global fuel market.
Myanmar imported 140,306 tons of aviation fuel in 2025, more than double the 64,562 tons imported in 2024, according to the regime-controlled Myanmar Port Authority.
The MoEE itself isn’t sanctioned but one of its enterprises, Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), has been sanctioned by the U.S., European Union (EU) and Switzerland since the military coup in February 2021 for providing much-needed foreign currency to the cash-strapped regime.
One liter of 92-octane gasoline rose 4,540-4,595 MMK ($1.00-1.02 USD) with 95-octane gasoline 4,730-4,770 MMK ($1.05-1.06 USD) Oct. 8-15, according to the regime’s Petroleum Products Regulatory Department (PPRD).
One liter of diesel fell 4,815-4,580 MMK ($1.07-1.01 USD) with premium diesel 5,795-5,575 MMK ($1.28-1.23 USD).
The prices of 95-octane and premium diesel peaked at 4,945 MMK ($1.09 USD) and 7,755 MMK ($1.72 USD) per liter in late April, following the disruptions in global fuel supply due to the war in Iran.
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