DILI, 15 march 2023 (TATOLI) – Minister of Petroleum and Minerals Victor da Conceição Soares said that the Sunrise Joint Venture partners have resumed negotiations on the Greater Sunrise Development.
“Two weeks ago, the Joint Venture Partners, Woodside, Osaka Gas, and Timor Gap resumed negotiations on the Greater Sunrise Development. A team made up of ANPM, and Joint Ventures Partners, left for Perth, Australia, to have further discussions on Greater Sunrise,” Minister Soares said at the Government Palace in Dili, today.
He said that progress has been made after the resumption of negotiations for the development of Sunrise.
“The disagreement between joint ventures is an internal issue. But through the effort that was made, we finally reached a solution through mediation, and now the joint ventures have agreed on the Concept Selection to decide whether the Oil and Gas in the Sunrise Field to be developed in Australia or Timor-Leste,” Soares explained.
He said however the joint ventures are committed and prefer the oil and gas from Sunrise fled to be developed in onshore Timor-Leste: “Let’s wait for the report of the team following their meeting in Perth.”
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.
On march 6, 2018, Australia and Timor-Leste signed the Treaty establishing Maritime Boundaries between the two countries in the Timor Sea to resolve a long-running dispute over the maritime border and set a deal on how to share revenue from the offshore Greater Sunrise gas field.
Timor-Leste will receive 80% of the revenue if the gas is developed in Australia, or 70% if the gas is piped to Timor-Leste for processing.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
