Financial Times: Canberra settles E Timor oil row: “…companies involved in the project include Royal Dutch Shell and Japan's Osaka Gas.”: Friday 2 December 2005

By Sundeep Tucker

Published: December 2 2005

Australia says it has settled a long-running maritime dispute with East Timor over access to A$40bn ($30bn, €25bn, £17bn) of oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea, although it refuses to provide details of the agreement until it is signed next month.

Alexander Downer, foreign minister, told parliament yesterday that officials from both countries met in Darwin this week and agreed a deal following seven previous failures over the past 18 months.

Any agreement is likely to pave the way for the development of the Greater Sunrise gas field project, mothballed a year ago by the developer Woodside Petroleum after sea border talks between the countries collapsed. Other companies involved in the project include Royal Dutch Shell and Japan's Osaka Gas. Sundeep Tucker, Sydney

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