Chauk is a town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 and river port in Magway Division

Magway Division

Magway Region is an administrative division in central Burma . Magway Region is the largest of Myanmar's seven divisions, with an area of .-Geography:...

, north-central Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

, on the Irrawaddy River. It is located across the river from Seikpyu

Seikpyu

Seikpyu or Seikphyu is the principal town and administrative seat for Seikpyu Township in Pakokku District in the Magway Division of Burma , on the right bank of the Irrawaddy immediately below its confluence with the Yaw River.It is located across the Irrawaddy river from Chauk and is connected...

 and is connected by a bridge. In 1902, the Chauk-Lonywa oil field was discovered near Chauk.

Economy

There is a refinery in Chauk for the Chauk-Lonywa oil field that also processes crude oil that comes down a pipeline from Yenangyaung

Yenangyaung

Yenangyaung is a city in Magway Division, Myanmar, on the Irrawaddy River.-History:For centuries, the dominant industry in the area has been petroleum. It began as an indigenous oil industry, with hand-dug wells, and from 1755 onwards, early British soldier-diplomats began to note its existence...

. The Chauk field was still producing natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

as of 1995.