MELBOURNE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas producerConocoPhillips said on Monday it signed a deal to sellits 30 percent stake in the Greater Sunrise gas field to EastTimor for $350 million.
A delegation led by former East Timor president XananaGusmao and its proposed new petroleum minister Alfredo Piressigned a final agreement in Bali last Friday withConocoPhillips' Australia West president Chris Wilson, theAustralian Financial Review reported earlier on Monday, withoutciting any sources.
Taking a stake would help East Timor position itself to pushfor the development of Greater Sunrise, discovered in 1974 butlong delayed as it straddles the maritime border betweenAustralia and East Timor, which was only agreed earlier thisyear following a protracted dispute between the two countries.
"Although we differ with the government on its proposeddevelopment plan for Sunrise, we recognize the importance of thefield to the nation of Timor-Leste," ConocoPhillipssaid.
The company's shares rose as much as 2.2 percent to $79.13,highest since September 2014.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019,once certain conditions are met, Conoco said.
The border agreement outlined two options for developingGreater Sunrise - piping the gas to East Timor, which the tinySoutheast Asian nation has long wanted, or piping it toAustralia for processing.
East Timor wants the gas to come to its shores as it iseager to develop oil and gas-based industries, such aspetrochemicals manufacturing, to diversify its economy, one ofthe world's poorest.
The need is urgent as the government's main source ofrevenue, the Bayu Undan gas field run by ConocoPhillips, is setto run dry by 2022.
The East Timor embassy in Australia did not respond to phonecalls or an email request for comment.
Australia's Woodside Petroleum, operator and 33percent stakeholder in Greater Sunrise, could not be reached forcomment outside of business hours.
The Sunrise and Troubadour gas fields, together known asGreater Sunrise, were discovered in 1974 and hold around 5.1trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the project's operator,Australia's Woodside Petroleum.
The fields also hold about 226 million barrels ofcondensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil that would helpmake the development more profitable.
The other owners are Royal Dutch Shell and Japan'sOsaka Gas.
State-owned company Timor Gap is looking to build aliquefied natural gas plant on the country's south coast, theAustralian Financial Review said.
Timor Gap was not immediately available for comment. Piresdid not respond to an email.
Under an agreement signed in March, East Timor will receive70 percent of the royalty revenues from Greater Sunrise if thegas is piped to its shores or 80 percent if piped to Australia.(Reporting by Sonali Paul and John Benny; editing by RichardPullin and Maju Samuel)
