Australia and East Timor are on the threshold of a new era of cooperation following a breakthrough in their dispute over how to carve up sea bed oil and gas revenue, East Timor's foreign minister said yesterday.
Canberra announced after negotiations in Dili last week that the two nations had agreed on how to share Timor Sea royalties despite failing to resolve an argument about where a common maritime border should lie.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters on Friday that the two sides had reached "substantial agreement on all major issues" during the talks.
East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta issued a statement yesterday describing the progress during the negotiations in Dili as unprecedented.
"This puts our two nations on the threshold of a new era in bilateral relations and economic cooperation," Ramos Horta said.
"Finding ways to allow the development of petroleum resources will bring significant economic benefit to both nations," he added, saying that impoverished East Timor "stands to benefit enormously from a final resolution."
Ramos Horta said the agreement may involve a resource sharing arrangement instead of hastily attempting to resolve a permanent maritime boundary.
"There are many details still to be worked through by the two sides," Ramos Horta said. "Another meeting will be held in the very near future, but I am confident that we are on the brink of securing an agreement to handle for a long period our competing claims in the Timor Sea, and in turn unlock the enormous hydrocarbon potential of this region."
Canberra said that under the deal, East Timor will receive up to A$5 billion (US$3.9 billion) of the projected US$30 billion in revenue from oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.
That comes on top of a 90 percent share in revenue East Timor will receive under a previous deal covering part of the Timor Sea known as a joint development area.
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