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Josh Lewis 23 June 2010- Upstream
Timor-Leste’s President Jose Ramos-Horta, currently on a state visit to Australia, today continued to push for gas from the Greater Sunrise fields to be piped to an onshore liquefied natural gas plant near Dili.
Australia’s Woodside Petroleum is sticking by its decision a floating processing facility is the most financially viable option to process gas from the fields in the Timor Sea.
But Ramos-Horta said he wanted further evidence on Woodside's assertion that it would cost A$19 billion (US$16.5 billion) to build a 184-kilometre subsea pipeline to transport the gas back to Timor-Leste for processing.
"I don't support a pipeline coming into Timor-Leste out of patriotic duty. I want to see what the real benefits to Timor-Leste (are) against the cost of it," he told a joint news conference with Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
He raised concerns Woodside’s floating platform option utilised untested technology.
Ramos-Horta said the pipeline, as well as bringing clear economic benefits for his impoverished country, would be a safer option, especially in light of the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil disaster off the coast of America.
"In view of the complexity and the delicate nature of dealing with oil and gas exploration, as we see in the Gulf of Mexico, we have to take all these things into consideration - safety as well as commercial viability,” he argued.
However Ramos-Horta refused to completely rule out Woodside’s FLNG option saying he was confident his government would agree on the "best possible option".
"Let's sit down to scrutinise every item of cost of the various options and see what makes real commercial sense for all of us. For Australia as a country that owns part of the Greater Sunrise resource, for Timor-Leste and for those who put in the pipeline," he said.
But the Australian Prime Minister distanced himself from the debate saying his country had no preference to where the gas should be processed.
"This is a matter to be resolved between the government of Timor-Leste and the company concerned," Rudd said.
Timor-Leste said yesterday it would present a A$3.8 billion development proposal to the Greater Sunrise stakeholders later this year to build the LNG processing plant on its southern coast without listing exactly what development costs the proposal would cover.
The Greater Sunrise joint venture's economic modelling shows Timor-Leste stands to make $13 billion over the life of the project for its 18% share. At the same time, the Australian government stands to earn about $19 billion from its 82% share.
The Greater Sunrise fields lay in jointly-run waters between Timor-Leste and Australia and are believed to hold about 5.13 trillion cubic feet of gas, as well as 300 million barrels of condensate.
Woodside's partners at Sunrise are Shell, ConocoPhillips and Osaka Gas.
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Josh Lewis 23 June 2010- Upstream
Timor-Leste’s President Jose Ramos-Horta, currently on a state visit to Australia, today continued to push for gas from the Greater Sunrise fields to be piped to an onshore liquefied natural gas plant near Dili.
Australia’s Woodside Petroleum is sticking by its decision a floating processing facility is the most financially viable option to process gas from the fields in the Timor Sea.
But Ramos-Horta said he wanted further evidence on Woodside's assertion that it would cost A$19 billion (US$16.5 billion) to build a 184-kilometre subsea pipeline to transport the gas back to Timor-Leste for processing.
"I don't support a pipeline coming into Timor-Leste out of patriotic duty. I want to see what the real benefits to Timor-Leste (are) against the cost of it," he told a joint news conference with Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
He raised concerns Woodside’s floating platform option utilised untested technology.
Ramos-Horta said the pipeline, as well as bringing clear economic benefits for his impoverished country, would be a safer option, especially in light of the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil disaster off the coast of America.
"In view of the complexity and the delicate nature of dealing with oil and gas exploration, as we see in the Gulf of Mexico, we have to take all these things into consideration - safety as well as commercial viability,” he argued.
However Ramos-Horta refused to completely rule out Woodside’s FLNG option saying he was confident his government would agree on the "best possible option".
"Let's sit down to scrutinise every item of cost of the various options and see what makes real commercial sense for all of us. For Australia as a country that owns part of the Greater Sunrise resource, for Timor-Leste and for those who put in the pipeline," he said.
But the Australian Prime Minister distanced himself from the debate saying his country had no preference to where the gas should be processed.
"This is a matter to be resolved between the government of Timor-Leste and the company concerned," Rudd said.
Timor-Leste said yesterday it would present a A$3.8 billion development proposal to the Greater Sunrise stakeholders later this year to build the LNG processing plant on its southern coast without listing exactly what development costs the proposal would cover.
The Greater Sunrise joint venture's economic modelling shows Timor-Leste stands to make $13 billion over the life of the project for its 18% share. At the same time, the Australian government stands to earn about $19 billion from its 82% share.
The Greater Sunrise fields lay in jointly-run waters between Timor-Leste and Australia and are believed to hold about 5.13 trillion cubic feet of gas, as well as 300 million barrels of condensate.
Woodside's partners at Sunrise are Shell, ConocoPhillips and Osaka Gas.
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