Woodside and East Timor target first LNG from Greater Sunrise by 2032
East Timor and Australia's Woodside Energy have agreed to investigate sending gas from large, undeveloped Greater Sunrise field to a new plant that will produce liquefied gas in Southeast Asia. The plant could begin exporting gas in seven years.
In a Tuesday joint statement, Woodside and East Timor’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry said that the agreement requires the two parties to examine the commercial and technological viability of a 5 million-metric-ton LNG project. The plan is to begin production as soon as 2032-2035.
This is the first time that the two sides have given a possible start date for the development of the fields between East Timor, Australia and Indonesia.
Francisco da Costa Monteiro, East Timor’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said, "The TLNG Project presents the best economic and social benefits to the people of Timor-Leste. We are committed in working with Woodside and the Greater Sunrise joint-venture, as well as other parties, constructively."
The project will include a domestic helium plant and a gas plant. Helium is in high demand due to its scarcity, and because it's used in the semiconductor industry.
Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill stated that the agreement will address the remaining issues, such as an downstream commercial structure in order to attract funding and to better understand the "preferred route of the export pipeline".
The deep Timor Trough has been identified as a major obstacle to a gas pipeline connecting the Greater Sunrise fields with East Timor.
Dili insists that Sunrise gas be sent to the new LNG export facility in East Timor, and not Darwin in northern Australia.
Woodside has resisted for years, claiming that it's not cost-effective, even though O'Neill suggested smaller "modular", LNG processing units in East Timor could be built to reduce costs.
MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonic estimated the cost difference between Australia & East Timor to be more than $5 billion.
The statement stated that alongside the study, tax, regulatory, and legal frameworks for upstream development must be negotiated by the Sunrise Joint Venture and the governments of East Timor, Australia, and Australia.
Woodside holds 33.4% of the shares in the gas project, followed by Timor Gap with 56.56% and Osaka Gas, with 10%. Dili purchased Shell and ConocoPhillips stakes in the gas project using its sovereign wealth fund.
In 2018, the two countries agreed on a maritime boundary. Helen Clark, Sonali Paul, and Kate Mayberry (reporting)
(source: Reuters)
