ENERGY

Unocal Signs Myanmar-Thailand Oil Deal: The Los Angeles-based oil company, in partnership with the French oil giant Total and the state oil companies of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand, have agreed to develop a natural gas field off Myanmar, with production to begin in mid-1998. Earlier this week, Unocal, Total and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand agreed to build a pipeline across Myanmar to send the gas to Thailand. The Rainforest Action Network, Burma Forum and other U.S. human rights groups have called on Unocal to withdraw from the deal. They say the Myanmar government is using forced labor to prepare sites for the pipeline. Amnesty International, the U.S. State Department and the United Nations have listed human rights abuses under Myanmar’s military regime. Unocal says its own investigation found no use of forced labor.