RE: Russia-China3 Jun 2024 15:20
Under a 2018 treaty between the nations signed in New York, if the gas field is processed in Timor-Leste, Australia would receive 30 per cent of the revenues and Timor 70 per cent.
But if the gas is instead piped to Australia and processed at an already existing LNG processing plant in Darwin, the Timorese share would increase to 80 per cent, with Australia receiving 20 percent.
This treaty was reached after Timor walked from an earlier agreement when it became known that Australian spies had bugged the Timorese parliament to get the upper hand in negotiations two decades ago.
There is up to $50 billion (US$33 billion) worth of gas in the Greater Sunrise field.
Gusmao’s preference is to process the gas on the southern Timorese coast, believing the industrial and job opportunities would outweigh the extra revenue from the Darwin alternative.
“We don’t want a pipeline for the sake of a pipeline,” Timorese president Jose Ramos-Horta told this masthead.
“A pipeline coming to Timor-Leste would power the diversification … the industrialisation, modernisation of our economy.
Woodside are still in the middle of the concept study even though it would make economical sense to pipe to Darwin I would be surprised if he agrees to it. He wants jobs in Timor Leste not Austrailia. The Chinese could get it built quickly.