Australia’s Woodside Petroleum is halting exploration in Myanmar and reconsidering its plans for the planned A-6 offshore gas development there as unrest deepens following the 1 February military coup, upstreamonline.com reported.

Woodside confirmed its scaling back its workforce in Myanmar as the security situation deteriorates after the military snatched power, with the operator saying reports of violence against pro-democracy locals protesting peacefully “are deeply distressing”.

The company was engaged in a three-well exploration campaign on deep-water blocks A-7, AD-1 and AD-8 offshore Myanmar on behalf of partners Shell and China National Petroleum Corporation.