Chauk

Chauk ချောက်
Town
Chauk Location in Myanmar (Burma)
Coordinates: 20°53′N 94°49′E / 20.883°N 94.817°ECoordinates: 20°53′N 94°49′E / 20.883°N 94.817°E
Country	Myanmar
Division	Magway Region
District	Magway District
Township	Chauk Township
Population
• Total	180,000
Time zone	MMT (UTC+6.30)

Chauk (Burmese: ချောက်) is a town and river port in Magway Region, north-central Myanmar (Burma), on the Irrawaddy River. It is located across the river from Seikphyu (ဆိပ္ျဖဴ) and is connected by a bridge.^[1][2]

History

In 1902, the Chauk-Lonywa oil field was discovered near Chauk, which is presently a major source of income for the town.

On January 2, 2014, Singapore’s Interra Resources announced that its jointly controlled entity, Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company Inc., had commenced drilling development well CHK 1177 in the Chauk oil field in Myanmar.^[3]

On 24 August 2016, the Chauk area was hit by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake, resulting in 3 deaths and the damaging of several nearby ancient temples.^[4][5][6]

Economy

A refinery was built in Chauk for the Chauk-Lonywa oil field that also processes crude oil that comes down a pipeline from Yenangyaung.^[7] The Chauk field was still producing natural gas as of 1995.^[7]

Notes

1. Google Maps (Map). Google.
2. Bing Maps (Map). Microsoft and Harris Corporation Earthstar Geographics LLC.
3. "Interra starts drilling in Myanmar's Chauk field". Oil Patch Asia. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
4. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/08/24/world/asia/ap-as-myanmar-earthquake.html?ref=world
5. https://twitter.com/TimesNow/status/768402632058757120
6. http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/23/europe/italy-earthquake-live-blog/index.html
7. Bečka, Jan (1995) "Chauk" Historical Dictionary of Myanmar Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey, p. 58, ISBN 0-8108-2840-5