Woodside reopens talks on potential development concepts for Sunrise in Timor-Leste’s onshore

DILI, 02 december 2022 (TATOLI) – Woodside Energy has now reopened to discuss the concept for the development of the Greater Sunrise project in Timor-Leste’s onshore.

The chief executive of Australia’s Woodside Energy, Meg O’Neill said her company is now open to revisiting a greenfield LNG export development on the South Coast of Timor-Leste known as the Tasi-Mane Project.

O’Neill made the comments at an investor briefing on thursday (01/12), which many saw as a surprising turnaround decision because it totally contradicts Woodside’s previous position to develop the sunrise project in Darwin.

In a meeting on thursday (01/12) with the Minister of Petroleum and Minerals, Víctor da Conceição Soares, in Díli, Australia’s Special Representative for the Greater Sunrise gas project, Steve Bracks, who was appointed in october, said that concerning where the Sunrise oil and gas to be processed is up to the Sunrise joint venture company (Woodside, Osaka Gas, and Timor Gap).

“Where the gas is processed really matters for the joint venture to determine and Australia does not have a position on this at all. That’s a matter that will be determined by the joint venture,” he said.

During the meeting, Minister Soares conveyed Timor-Leste’s Greater Sunrise Strategic Plan to Bracks.

“We brief Bracks on Timor-Leste’s position and our strategic plan for the development of Greater Sunrise in onshore Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste needs Australia’s support to advance the development of this project,” Soares said.

In august 2022, Minister Soares told the Australian Financial Review in an exclusive interview that Woodside and the Australian Government should be “fair” by allowing the processing of Sunrise’s liquefied natural gas to be undertaken on the south coast of Timor-Leste, rather than Woodside’s preferred option of Darwin.

It looks like Timor-Leste’s dream of piping oil and gas from the Greater Sunrise fields to be developed in onshore Timor-Lese is close to becoming a reality.

After the meeting with Bracks, the President of the National Petroleum and Minerals Authority (ANPM), Florentino Soares Ferreira said that the document of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and the Petroleum Mining Code (PMC) has already been delivered to the Sunrise Joint Venture.

“Meanwhile, the Australian government has agreed to use Timor-Leste’s tax regime,” he said.

Ferreira reiterated that the development of the Greater Sunrise project in Timor-Leste’s onshore is commercially viable, adding that all efforts that had been made would lead to the first production of natural gas from the fields before 2030.

The Sunrise project is operated by Joint Venture between TIMOR GAP (56.56%), Woodside Petroleum (33.44%), and Osaka Gas (10%).

The Sunrise field is estimated to contain 5.13 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas and 226 million barrels of condensate (oil), which could give Timor-Leste US$50 billion in revenues.

Journalist: Filomeno Martins

Editor: Nelia Borges