Union Oil Company of California

Union Oil

        Union Oil Company of California, or Unocal is an oil company based in Los Angeles. It is looking to expand its market into international. One of the international project that attracted Unocal the most is the natural gas field from Yadana field in Burma. The government of Burma formed a state-owned company named the Mayanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) to find private companies to exploit the field. In 1992, MOGE signed a contract with Total S.A, a French company that gave it the right to develop the field and build a pipeline to transport the gas to Thailand. MOGE agreeing to provide security and the rights of way to its partners. In December, 1992, Unocal paid $8.6 million Total S.A for 28.26 percent of the stake in project. Total would be responsible for coordinate the project and Unocal will be responsible for building a 256-mile pipeline carry gas from Yadana to Thailand. However, throughout the preparation and construction of the pipeline Unocal had violated several human rights laws. There are numerous reports claiming forced labor and brutalizing to the Karen population by the military as it provided security for Unocal’s workers and equipment. Several Karen families near or along the pipeline forced to relocate without compensation. These actions brought Unocal multiple law suits and they had to settle the law suits. The project brought approximately $9 billion to the Burma government but all the money went in offshore bank accounts and no public expenditures invested.

        From a utilitarian perspective, Unocal did the right thing when it chose to invest in the project. There are multiple benefits the project brought to Burma. Infant mortality from the pipeline region had drop significantly year after year. Unocal also provided multiple employment opportunities to Burmese. There are increasing middle class grown in wealth. Unocal also focusing on helping the poor for better life. Unocal also benefits a lot in the project, $2.2 billion to be exact for the next 30 years.  

        From a rights perspective, Unocal had all the rights to invest in the project for business expansion. However, they overlooked other people rights throughout the project. They violate labor law and forced people to relocate without any compensation. People should have their rights as a human being to be able to freely choose whether they will relocate or not. Unocal should have compensated to everyone who had forced to relocated. Unocal also should have paid their workers and treated them like human being not slaves.