Australia warns $5b Timor Sea gas project may fail<\/p>\n
Associated Press, Canberra<\/p>\n
Australia warned Thursday that a US$5 billion (euro 3.9 billion)
\nnatural gas project in the Timor Sea could be scrapped after East
\nTimor rejected its latest proposal.<\/p>\n
East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said on Wednesday that
\na third round of talks with Australia had ended without an accord
\non the project in an area where the maritime boundary is in
\ndispute.<\/p>\n
But Australia's chief negotiator, Department of Foreign
\nAffairs and Trade Deputy Secretary Doug Chester, warned that the
\nGreater Sunrise gas field development could be abandoned if no
\nagreement is reached by Christmas on sharing $30 billion in oil
\nand gas royalties .<\/p>\n
\"The ball's in East Timor's court,\" Chester told Australian
\nBroadcasting Corp. radio. \"We've put forward a number of
\nsuggestions for a creative solution; they've been rejected.\"<\/p>\n
Chester said the two countries had been close to striking a
\ndeal but the East Timorese changed their negotiating position
\nthis week.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have any further ideas ourselves and it's now up to
\nEast Timor to come forward with some ideas,\" Chester said.<\/p>\n
Alkatiri said what the Australians had offered \"did not come
\neven close to recognizing our sovereign rights in the disputed
\nareas.\"<\/p>\n
\"We were talking about Timor-Leste participation in the
\ndevelopment of the disputed resources; they were talking about
\nmoney,\" Alkatiri said in a statement, using East Timor's official
\nname. \"We were too far apart to reach agreement.\"<\/p>\n
Alkatiri, however, said he was still willing to participate in
\nnegotiations.<\/p>\n
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, citing unnamed Australian
\nsources, said the East Timorese were offered about 3 billion
\nAustralian dollars ($2.2 billion) in additional tax revenue in
\nexchange for deferring discussions on settling a maritime
\nboundary for 100 years.<\/p>\n
Impoverished East Timor wants a maritime border midway between
\nthe two countries, which it argues would provide Dili with an
\nextra US$12 billion in total revenue.<\/p>\n
Australia, however, wants the border it shared when Indonesia
\noccupied East Timor, which followed the Australian continental
\nshelf that at some points is only 150 kilometers from the East
\nTimorese coast.<\/p>\n
That border puts the bulk of natural resources under
\nAustralia's control.<\/p>\n
In July, Woodside Petroleum warned its $5 billion Sunrise gas
\nproject in the Timor Sea would stall if the countries failed to
\nresolve their dispute by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
The latest talks had been aimed at achieving a solution to the
\ndispute over resources, without setting a permanent maritime
\nboundary, Alkatiri said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australia-warns-5b-timor-sea-gas-project-may-fail-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}