Australia and Timor-Leste call for the Greater Sunrise offshore gas project to be developed as soon as possible, the two countries said in a joint declaration on Wednesday, as Australia looks to boost its domestic gas supply.
The Greater Sunrise fields, operated by Australia’s Woodside Energy, are located north-west of Darwin, Australia, but are closer to the south of Timor-Leste.
After years of delays and negotiations, Australia and Timor-Leste signed in 2019 a new maritime boundary treaty, paving the way for negotiations between the governments and the Sunrise Joint Venture on a new Greater Sunrise production sharing contract.
In today’s declaration of a new partnership for a new era, Australia committed to transferring at least a third of Australia’s revenue from the project to Timor-Leste via an Infrastructure Fund it would establish.
“Australia and Timor-Leste commit to working closely together and with the Sunrise Joint Venture in good faith to develop an ambitious timeline to conclude the Petroleum Mining Code, Greater Sunrise Production Sharing Contract, and fiscal regime framework required under the Maritime Boundary Treaty, thus enabling concrete progress towards development of the resource,” the countries said.
Australia and Timor-Leste encouraged the Sunrise Joint Venture to make use of a 2024 independent study and present to the states as soon as possible a Development Concept proposal for Greater Sunrise that can satisfy the requirements of the Maritime Boundary Treaty.
“We also commit to supporting the Sunrise Joint Venture to progress the project swiftly upon the States’ approval of a single Development Concept,” Australia and Timor-Leste said.
At the end of last year, Woodside Energy noted a significant milestone in unlocking the value of the Greater Sunrise gas fields after signing a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Timor-Leste to carry out studies and activities to mature a Timor-based LNG concept (TLNG).
Woodside will carry out commercial and technical maturation activities for a greenfield Timor-based approximately 5 million tonne per annum LNG concept with a domestic gas facility and a helium extraction plant.
“These activities will run in parallel to the ongoing negotiation of the fiscal, regulatory, and legal frameworks to support the upstream development of the Greater Sunrise fields between the Sunrise Joint Venture, Timor-Leste, and Australian governments,” Woodside said in November.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
