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According to a Woodside statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Timor-Leste (MPRM) and Woodside signed a cooperation agreement to carry out studies and activities to mature a Timor-based LNG concept (TLNG).
The agreement marks a “significant milestone in the longstanding efforts by Timor-Leste and Woodside to unlock the value of the Greater Sunrise gas fields and reflects a renewed spirit of good-faith collaboration and commitment among the parties,” Woodside said.
Under the agreement, MPRM and Woodside will carry out commercial and technical maturation activities for a greenfield Timor-based approximately 5 million tonne per annum LNG concept with a domestic gas facility and a helium extraction plant.
Moreover, Woodside said that these activities will run in parallel to the ongoing negotiation of the fiscal, regulatory, and legal frameworks to support the upstream development of the Greater Sunrise fields between the Sunrise joint venture, Timor-Leste and Australian governments.
2032-2035
According to Woodside, the agreement includes a high-level plan outlining key activities required to mature and progress this opportunity, under which first LNG may be produced as early as 2032-2035, subject to concept selection and investment decisions.
Timor-Leste Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Francisco da Costa Monteiro, said the agreement sent a clear message that the government of Timor-Leste and Woodside are united in their ambition to bring Greater Sunrise into production in a way that benefits all stakeholders.
“The TLNG project presents the best economic, social, and strategic benefits for the people of Timor-Leste, and we are committed to working constructively with Woodside, the Greater Sunrise joint venture and other parties to take the project forward and to make our vision for Greater Sunrise a reality,” he said.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill welcomed the agreement, stating it reflected the next step in the relationship and shared commitment to the development of the Greater Sunrise fields.
“This work is an extension of last year’s concept study and will address the remaining considerations required to reach concept selection, such as agreeing the most appropriate downstream commercial structure to attract financing and understanding the preferred route of the gas export pipeline,” she said.
Study
In November 2023, Woodside and its partners Timor GAP and Japan’s Osaka Gas received approval from Timor-Leste to kick off work on a concept study for the development of the Greater Sunrise fields.
Woodside operates the Greater Sunrise fields, located about 450 kilometers north-west of Darwin and 150 kilometers south of East Timor, with a 33.4 percent stake.
The nation’s oil company Timor GAP has a 56.56 percent stake while Osaka Gas has a 10 percent stake.
The Sunrise development comprises the Sunrise and Troubadour gas and condensate fields.
According to Woodside, the fields contain an estimated contingent resource (2C) 5.3 Tcf of dry gas and 226 MMbbl of condensate.
Woodside previously preferred the option of sending the Sunrise gas to Darwin as there are two existing LNG plants in the region, namely the Santos-led Darwin LNG facility and the Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG plant.
However, O’Neill announced in November 2022 that the firm is willing to consider sending the gas to a new LNG plant in East Timor.