Australia upbeat on Timor Sea talks

Australia upbeat on Timor Sea talks

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Australia is approaching negotiations
to divide revenues from natural gas reserves in the Timor Sea
with "a feeling of good will, a feeling of being generous," Daryl
Manzie, Minister of Resources for the Northwest Territories, said
Tuesday.

"Indonesia and Australia have expressed concerns about
stability, but we are working together...Stability concerns don't
affect gas reserves in the Timor Sea, where 3.4 trillion cubic
feet are in the Zone of Cooperation but almost 40 trillion cubic
feet lie outside the Zone," Manzie said, in response to a
question on security in the region.

While East Timor and Australia have already agreed to divide
royalty and tax revenues from petroleum production in the Zone of
Cooperation A, they have not yet concluded negotiations for
revenues from natural gas production.

"We don't know if negotiations will bring up 60 percent/40
percent (in East Timor's favor) or 50 percent/50 percent, but
Australia is not reluctant to discuss that," Manzie said,
speaking at the sidelines at the three-day Asia Pacific Petroleum
Conference, or APPEC, that ends Wednesday.