E. Timor formally replaces Indonesia in Timor Gap

E. Timor formally replaces Indonesia in Timor Gap

CANBERRA (AP): East Timor has replaced Indonesia as
Australia's partner in a treaty sharing the resource-rich Timor
Sea bed, the Australian government announced late Thursday.

The same terms of the Timor Gap Treaty would continue to
apply, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Resources Minister
Nick Minchin said in a joint statement.

The Timor Gap, the sea between northern Australia and East
Timor, currently has just one small oil field producing revenue
of A$3 million to A$5 million a year, but a new field is expected
to produce oil worth several tens of millions of Australian
dollars by 2005.

The United Nations transitional administrator in East Timor
has joined a new agreement on the treaty which will apply in the
transitional period until full East Timorese independence.

"These arrangements will ensure a smooth transition for the
treaty and provide the political confidence necessary for
significant investments presently under consideration in the
Timor Gap Zone of Cooperation," the ministers said.

Indonesia last week agreed that following the endorsement of
the East Timor independence ballot, the area covered by the
treaty was outside Indonesia's jurisdiction and the treaty with
Australia ceased to be in force.