Yangon  - Investments in Myanmar's energy sector last year amounted to 474 million dollars or 90 per cent of the total foreign direct investment in the country which is the target of economic sanctions, media reports said Tuesday.

Myanmar, a pariah state among western democracies for its poor human rights record and failure to implement democratic reforms, has been drawing increasing investment interest in its natural gas reserves in recent years as international oil prices hit historic highs, local energy expert Hla Maung told the Myanmar Times, an English-language weekly.

Foreign investments in the energy sector reached 474 million dollars last year, compared with 187 million dollars in 2006, and several multi-million dollar investments have already been signed this year, said Hla Maung.

Last month, two multi-billion dollar gas contracts were signed, one between Myanmar, China and South Korea, the other a Myanmar-Thailand deal to develop, produce and export gas from offshore gas fields to China and Thailand.

Myanmar earned 2.6 billion dollars off its exports of natural gas to neighbouring Thailand in fiscal year 2007-08, ending March 31.

"I expect revenue from natural gas will double in the coming years as the prices increase," said Hla Maung.

Currently, Myanmar sells gas to Thailand at 4.41 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet.

Hla Maung, author of The World and its Energy Crisis, predicted that natural gas prices would reach 8 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet in the near future, pushed up by oil prices. (dpa)