By Henning Gloystein and Sonali Paul
For impoverished
The treaty signing in
At current market prices, the Greater Sunrise reserves wouldbe worth more than 23 times
Development of the reserves has been held back by themaritime border dispute between
"The treaty is an important step that opens the way fordeveloping a rich, shared resource, the Greater Sunrise gasfields. We know this resource is crucial to Timor Leste'sdevelopment," said Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, whosigned the treaty in
However, the Greater Sunrise joint venture, led by
"It is disappointing that this process has not resulted inan alignment on a development concept," the Sunrise jointventure said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Sunrise partners did not specify what they felt wasmissing in the agreement, but it is likely that Dili insisted onthe gas being processed in
Under the terms of the deal,
That compares with an equal share under a 2006 agreementbetween Dili and
HOW MUCH GAS IS THERE?
The Sunrise and Troubadour gas fields, collectively known asGreater Sunrise, lie beneath waters 100 to 600 metres deep,making them shallow to medium-deepwater developments.
The fields were discovered in 1974 and, according toWoodside, hold around 5.13 trillion cubic feet of gas, theequivalent of more than a third of current annual global LNGconsumption.
At current market prices, the LNG would be worth almost
Like most gas fields in the wider region, including
Its 225.9 million barrels of condensate reserves at currentmarket prices would be worth over
WHO GETS WHAT?
Woodside and its partners have long said they would preferto develop the fields using a floating liquefied natural gas(FLNG) platform, considered the most cost-effective option, asthe fields are 150km away from
However the agreement signed on Tuesday lays out just twooptions -- piping the gas either to
Dili has long pressed for the gas to be processed in
WHO IS INVOLVED?
The partners in Greater Sunrise are
Even with the new agreement, development could be yearsaway. Woodside said last May it may only develop Greater Sunriseafter 2027.
Energy markets are just recovering from years of oversupplythat depressed oil and gas prices and deterred development ofnew gas projects.
It's likely the Sunrise partners will bide their time beforecommitting billions of dollars to develop such a large project.
(Reporting by Henning Gloystein and Sonali PaulEditing by Bill Tarrant)