On the Timor Gap<\/p>\n
Indonesia (and Australia, too, perhaps) may not benefit from
\nthe natural wealth lying in the Bonaparte Basin, the Timor Sea,
\nif East Timor is given up as one of Indonesia's provinces.<\/p>\n
According to media reports from Australia and some other
\nsources, an Australian company, BHP, in cooperation with its
\npartners, Petros, Santos and Inpex, has developed the Elang-
\nkakatua (Eagle-cockatoo) oil field with a proven reserve of some
\n30 million barrels which is expected to generate a revenue
\ntotaling A$136 million.<\/p>\n
In the near future, Bayu-Undan gas-condensate field worth
\nA$2.5 billion will also be developed with a proven reserve of 900
\nmillion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), as will the Sunrise-
\nTroubadour oil field, part of which is in the Timor Gap area.<\/p>\n
These oil fields belong to the A Zone under the Timor Gap
\nTreaty. In terms of oil potential, the oil fields in the
\nterritory of the Timor Sea are on the list of the world's 23
\nlargest oil fields.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian-Australian governments have agreed to undertake
\noil and gas exploration and exploitation activities in the Timor
\nSea area, as expressed in a joint statement on the zone of
\ncooperation signed by the two governments on Oct. 25, 1988.<\/p>\n
The agreement essentially stipulates the following: \"... the
\nzone of cooperation will be delineated in the northern side by a
\nsimplified bathymetric axis line, in the southern side by the 200
\nnautical mile line measured from the Indonesian archipelagic
\nbaselines, and in the eastern side and western side by
\nequidistant lines.<\/p>\n
The zone of cooperation (ZOCA) is divided into three parts --
\nA, B and C areas. Area B is under the supervision of the
\nAustralian government while area C is supervised by the
\nIndonesian government. Area A is the zone of cooperation, the
\nadministration of which is under the joint authority of the two
\ncountries and is referred to as \"the Timor Gap\".<\/p>\n
Under the joint authority (Area A), the operator of BHP oil
\nfield and its partner must give production royalties to the
\nIndonesian and Australian governments. It is estimated that in
\ntwo years production royalties will amount to some A$64 million.<\/p>\n
In August 1998, prior to the inauguration of Elang-kakatua oil
\nfield, Peter Cockroft of BHP representative office in Jakarta and
\nJose Alexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao, supreme leader of the CNRT
\nresistance movement, held a secret talk in Cipinang Penitentiary
\non the legality of the Timor Gap Treaty. It was reported that in
\nthis meeting Xanana said he did not recognize the Timor Gap
\nTreaty and that he would continue to refer to the UN-recognized
\nauthority of the Portuguese government over the Timor Sea. The
\nresult of this talk was exposed by Australian mass media with the
\nresult that Peter Cockroft had to go back to the head office of
\nBHP in Melbourne on Aug. 27, 1998.<\/p>\n
With Portugal's support by lobbying industrialized countries
\nin Europe to participate in developing the rich oil and gas
\npotential in the Timor Sea, East Timor, with a population of only
\n850,000 people, will at the turn of the century become a new oil-
\nrich country, just like Brunei Darussalam and the Middle-Eastern
\npetro-dollar states. That Portuguese lobbying is quite effective
\nis evident from the financial support extended by Stat Oil,
\nNorway (one of Europe's largest oil companies) in the form of
\nbudget allocation totaling US$400,000 for East Timorese students
\nstudying petroleum engineering in Norway.<\/p>\n
DIRGO D. PURBO<\/p>\n
Oil & gas industry observer<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-the-timor-gap-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }