WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. energy company

Chevron ( CVX ) has quit the Yadana natural gas field in

Myanmar, a spokesperson said on Monday, more than two years

after it condemned violence and human rights abuses there and

announced it would leave.

Rather than being sold, Chevron's ( CVX ) 41.1% stake in the gas

field was redistributed to the remaining shareholders,

Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production and

state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

PTTEP, operator of the gas field, said on Friday its stake

in Yadana had increased to 62.96%.

"The withdrawal gives effect to our intention to exit

Myanmar in a controlled and orderly manner, following the

February 2021 coup, and ongoing humanitarian crisis," a Chevron ( CVX )

spokesperson said.

Myanmar has been in crisis since the army overthrew the

elected government in 2021. A crackdown on dissidents has since

given rise to a nationwide resistance movement backed by several

ethnic minority armies.

Located in the Gulf of Martaban, the Yadana field has

produced around 6 billion cubic meters (212 billion cubic

feet)per year of gas, 70% of which has been exported to Thailand

and about 30% supplied for domestic use to MOGE.

MOGE was seized by the junta through its 2021 attempted

coup.

Chevron ( CVX ) had said in January 2022 it would exit Myanmar and

in February 2023 said it had agreed to sell its assets there,

including its stake in the Yadana gas field, but instead has

withdrawn.

Rights groups and United Nations experts have accused

Myanmar's military of committing atrocities against civilians in

its efforts to crush the resistance.

The junta says it is fighting "terrorists" and has ignored

international calls to cease hostilities.

In 2021, French oil and gas group TotalEnergies

and Chevron ( CVX ) suspended some payments from Yadana that would have

reached Myanmar's junta, earning praise from pro-democracy

activists. TotalEnergies withdrew in 2022.

Justice for Myanmar, a non-profit group, said Chevron ( CVX ) exited

following sustained civil society pressure over payments from

the gas project to the Myanmar junta.

Chevron ( CVX ) said it has conducted its "exit from Myanmar in a

responsible, orderly and safe manner, in accordance with

international law and trade sanctions."

The administration of President Joe Biden last November

imposed sanctions on certain financial services by Americans to

MOGE, in the first direct action on the enterprise aimed at

weakening the military junta that controls it.

The U.S. Treasury said it would not comment on an individual

company's circumstances.