Spat could delay Timor oil deal

Spat could delay Timor oil deal

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer admitted
Wednesday differences with East Timor over the revenue share-out
from lucrative oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea could delay
a treaty.

A Timor Gap arrangement was expected to be converted into a
treaty on May 20, the day East Timor becomes an independent
nation.

But East Timor Chief Minister Mari Alkatiri cast doubt on this
arrangement last week, saying Australia had committed an
unfriendly act towards his country during negotiations over
rights to oil and gas reserves.

Downer admitted the dispute could delay the signing of the
treaty.

"It is possible," Downer said in Sydney. "But I think we ought
to try to get these negotiations concluded before May 20. They
are technical differences and we are certainly not getting into
the negotiations in public."

Alkatiri claimed last week that Australia had unilaterally
withdrawn from negotiations in the International Court of Justice
to resolve a dispute over maritime boundaries, which would in
turn affect East Timor's share from the lucrative Greater Sunrise
field.

Under an arrangement agreed in July, 90 percent of royalties
from the joint production area goes to East Timor and 10 percent
to Australia.

But only around 20 percent of Greater Sunrise falls within the
joint production area and 80 percent lies in Australia's area, so
East Timor would receive only 18 percent of royalties from the
Greater Sunrise output. -- AFP