Villages hope to get rich from Myanmar's oil rush

Myanmar is one of the world's oldest oil-producing countries, having exported its first barrel in the mid-1800s.
Since then, however, Myanmar's onshore oil reserves have gone mostly untapped — largely due to decades of rule in the 20th century by a military junta that nationalized the industry, while discouraging both foreign and local drilling. But after a civilian government came to power in 2011, some restrictions have been lifted, including one on independent oil drilling.
As a result, an oil rush has recently kicked off, with hundreds of local speculators and laborers flocking to the oil fields along the Irrawaddy River in search of wealth.

Once-quiet villages have become boomtowns surrounded by fields of DIY oil rigs made out of bamboo and metal, and powered by generators. Speculators must pay both local authorities and the villagers whose land they want to drill on. And if they do strike oil, they better hope it’s not too much — Myanmar's government is known to confiscate any drill site it deems sufficiently profitable.
While the government has a massive refinery nearby, most privately drilled oil is shipped about 300 kilometers north to Monywa district, where a cottage industry of makeshift refineries has popped up. These “oil-cooking factories,” as they are called in Myanmar, essentially refine oil by heating it with a wood-fired furnace. When the process is done, the oil is picked up by distributors who sell it all over the country, while the charcoal left over from the wood is sold by women at a local market.

Beyond deals that the refinery owners must strike with local authorities, there is basically no government oversight over Myanmar's independent oil refineries.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Laborers help put together metallic oil rigs, which can drill between 1,400 and 2000 feet below. Those who cannot afford to build a rig use hand-powered drills, which can drill down about 300 feet.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Workers in Dagain village use a hollow pipe to manually pump water out of the ground. Drillers like Win Lin Aung worry about layers of water that can obstruct their access to oil underneath.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
A worker caries metal piping meant for building oil rigs through a maze of tents that cover oil drilling wells in Dagain. Much of the terrain around the wells is a treacherous mix of oil and mud.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
There are little-to-no safety precautions taken by workers in drilling towns like Dagain. One of the few regulations in place is a sign warning people that anyone caught stealing oil will be banned from the town.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Lacking the aid of any machinery, workers struggle to load a barrel full of oil onto the truck of a client.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
The shadow of oil driller Win Lin Aung is cast over a pool of runoff oil and water in Dagain village. There are no apparent environmental regulations in place at oil drilling towns like Dagain.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
The generators that power the drill bits are in constant need of water supply in order to keep them cool, especially in the scorching heat of central Myanmar.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Sai Sai, a laborer at an oil refinery in Jao Ga village, takes a break from the intense midday heat of central Myanmar’s dry zone to check his phone.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Win Lin Aung, who owns and operates multiple wells in the area, starts the drilling of a new well by hand. Speculators like Lin Aung take a chance with every new hole they drill - even if there is no oil, they must pay the landowner for every hole they drill.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
An oil refinery worker in Jao Ga village stands on a beam over a vat of oil that is going to be mixed with high-concentration sulfuric acid. Oil comes out of the refinery in four stages of decreasing quality - the worse oil is cut with sulfuric acid in order to improve its quality and value.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
A worker in Jao Ga compares the quality of two oil samples by looking at the foam that is formed after the bottles are shaken.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Workers at an oil refinery in Jao Ga village pour unrefined oil into a concrete holding cell. There are no forklifts or other machines to help the laborers at the refinery, so there they must do all the heavy lifting manually.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Oil is kept in raised metallic vats over a wood-fired furnace that essentially “cooks” the oil, which comes out in 4 different stages of varying quality.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Clay-covered laborers at an oil drilling site sit down and take a break to chew betel nut, a natural stimulant that is commonly chewed in Myanmar.

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Workers who man and maintain the oil rigs in Dagain make about $350 a month, which is a relatively good salary in Myanmar.

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Tarps are draped over the rigs in order to shield workers from the blazing sun.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Refined oil that is ready to be sold is pumped by Chan Nyein into barrels on the back of a client’s truck.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Aside from a couple of small restaurants for workers, the village of Jao Ga consists almost entirely of oil refineries and the homes of the people that work in them.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Villages like Dagain were once just farming communities, where the only oil drilling was either by the government or clandestine speculators working under the radar. That all changed a couple of years ago, when the government lifted restrictions on private drilling.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan
Most of the oil rigs in Dagain are either metal, with fully automated drills, or bamboo, with drills that are operated by a hand crank and foot brake.

Image: Arthur Nazaryan