A study of the Greater Sunrise gas field by British engineering and consulting company John Wood Group has confirmed the viability of developing the project in Timor-Leste. The study was carried out between April and November of this year and was reported by the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
Although the country currently lacks the infrastructure to process liquified natural gas (LNG), locating the project in Timor-Leste would be “the most advantageous for the country, guaranteeing significant economic and social benefits,” the Timorese government said in a statement last week.
The vast Greater Sunrise gas field has gone undeveloped for 50 years now, owing to disputes between Timor-Leste and Australia. While it would be an economic boon to both, the field is particularly critical for the young island nation of Timor-Leste, as the Bayu-Undan oil and gas field it long relied on has dried up.
[See more: Timor-Leste keeps the door open to Chinese partnership on a major LNG project]
While Australia already has infrastructure in place to process LNG, Timor-Leste is far closer to the field. A pipe to the Asian country would have to travel just 150 kilometres north compared to 450 kilometres southwest to reach Darwin, where some of Australia’s facilities are located.
The Timorese government says that processing the gas in Timor-Leste would provide lower operating costs, while “enabling better overall direct and indirect returns” for the country and “better direct upstream returns to Australia.” John Wood Group found the option would present the best returns to the development consortium, comprising Timorese company Timor Gap (56.56 percent), Australian operator Woodside Energy (33.44 percent) and Japanese company Osaka Gas (10 percent).
Meanwhile, Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese have announced a significant proposed investment in the Asian country by Australia in the form of a new infrastructure fund. According to their joint statement, the fund would be capitalised from a portion of Australia’s future revenues from Greater Sunrise.
