Woodside forced to change tack Woodside, Australia’s largest oil and gas company with a license to drill for natural gas in the Rakhine Basin, has felt the pressure of community protests and changed tack. Following the February 1 coup, Woodside initially said their “drilling campaign remains on schedule”. Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman told Energy News Bulletin, “It’s not up to us to judge the veracity of grievances [the military] have around the previous election process.” In response to the vehement backlash to these comments, Coleman released a media statement on February 19, which said: “I regret that I made some remarks in a media interview that have been interpreted as condoning what has occurred in Myanmar.”