At What Cost to Develop Timor-Leste’s Oil Resources?

Dec 6, 2018 | Vijayalakshmi Menon
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In March, Timor-Leste and Australia signed a treaty resolving the issue of the long-disputed maritime boundaries between the two countries. This treaty recognised Australia’s and Timor-Leste’s shared sovereign rights over the resources in the Greater Sunrise field.

Timor-Leste is to get 70-80 percent of revenues from the field. What was not resolved was the issue of how these resources would be developed: through a pipeline to the south-east coast of Timor-Leste or to an existing LNG facility in Darwin in Australia.

Discussions continued between Timor-Leste and the joint venture. The option preferred by Timor-Leste is a pipeline from Greater Sunrise to an onshore processing facility on Timor-Leste’s south coast facing the Timor Sea (Tase Mane project). Timorese leaders want to develop this area as a sub-regional centre for the petroleum industry, providing direct economic dividends for the country. The oil companies have expressed a preference for a pipeline to Darwin as it claims that a pipeline to the south of Timor-Leste will be too costly and not commercially viable.