Malaysia's Petronas Carigali and Timor-Leste's Timor Gap have entered into a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) for offshore exploration in the Timor Sea. The primary objective is to collaboratively enhance and de-risk the technical understanding of Timor-Leste's offshore petroleum basins. This work will build upon existing studies by Timor-Leste's petroleum regulator, ANP, through targeted data integration and advanced seismic reprocessing.

Study Details and Objectives

The eight-month study is designed to support ANP's basin evaluation and future licensing activities, while providing Petronas and Timor Gap with an informed early technical assessment ahead of potential bidding rounds. ANP and Timor Gap will supply an extensive exploration dataset, including 2D and 3D seismic studies and well data from previous work, to ensure the study's success. The agreement is seen as a positive step in evaluating the region's prospectivity.

Greater Sunrise Development and Bilateral Partnership

Concurrently, the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia issued a joint declaration establishing a "New Partnership for a New Era." A key focus is urging the Woodside Energy-led Sunrise joint venture to swiftly submit a development concept for the Greater Sunrise gas fields. The governments commit to close bilateral engagement to finalize the necessary legal and fiscal frameworks required under the Maritime Boundary Treaty.

Australia expressed support for any commercially viable development solution consistent with the treaty. The current vision for the Greater Sunrise asset, containing 5.1 Tcf of gas and 226 million barrels of condensate, is an onshore LNG project in Timor-Leste with a capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum. First LNG cargoes could be produced between 2032 and 2035, pending final decisions.

Australian Support Commitments

The declaration emphasizes that the project should support Timor-Leste's stability. Australia committed to sharing technical and regulatory knowledge on health, safety, and environmental matters. Furthermore, Australia will establish an infrastructure fund for Timor-Leste, allocating a fixed 10% share of the total upstream revenue from Greater Sunrise to this fund, financed entirely from Australia's future revenue share.