Timor-Leste: Why Tiny Timor-Leste Is Defying Global Energy Giants

Aug 28, 2019 | Dan Murtaugh, Bloomberg
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When Timor-Leste became a country in 2002, it did so with a built-in advantage: the Bayu-Undan oil and gas field. It’s generated billions of dollars that helped develop the Southeast Asian country’s infrastructure, but it hasn’t brought much in the way of jobs for Timor-Leste’s 1.2 million people. The government in Dili is looking to change that as it turns to developing a new field, with grand plans that include an oil refinery and petrochemical complex to maximize employment and boost exports. A three-kilometer (two-mile) deep gulch in the ocean floor has scared off some global oil giants. The country is out recruiting potential new partners, including some from China.