'Woodside is trying to steal Timor reserves'

Timor Leste's Prime Minister has accused Woodside Petroleum and the partners of Sunrise liquefied natural gas project of trying to steal his country's natural resources from a gas field it's developing in the Timor Sea.

"I don't believe Woodside company because it is a liar," Xanana Gusmao said. "They intend to steal our oil and gas in the Timor Sea as they don't want to bring the pipeline to [Timor Leste]."

Gusmao’s comments came after Woodside lodged a proposal last Friday for a floating LNG development at the Greater Sunrise gas field against Dili’s preference to pipe the gas to onshore, according to local media reports.

In response, the National Petroleum Authority (ANP) has turned down the proposal, claiming the Sunrise joint venture had failed to provide feasibility studies of other development options.

Gusmao has called on the Timorese “to defend our wealth in the Timor Sea”.

“The pipeline must come to [Timor Leste], not to Darwin or floating as Woodside's desires," Gusmao was cited as saying on News.com.au.

The Timorese Prime Minister has also accused the Sunrise joint venture of breaking its promise to provide training for Timorese engineers.

The joint venture has hired only 30 local people so far in its Timor Sea exploration, he said.

The massive Greater Sunrise gas field in the sea between Australia and Timor Leste is estimated to hold 240 million barrels of light oil and 154 billion cubic metres of natural gas worth tens of billions of dollars.

Timor Leste sees the resources as key to lifting its 1.1 million people out of poverty by stimulating the local economy and creating jobs.

The nation has no major industry and unemployment is more than 30%, News.com.au reported.

Darwin is 450 kilometres from Greater Sunrise. Timor Leste is closer, but Woodside says a deep trench off the East Timorese coast would make building a pipeline there more difficult.

The joint venture partners for Sunrise include Shell, Osaka Gas and ConocoPhillips.

Woodside and partners Royal Dutch/Shell, Osaka Gas and ConocoPhillips are licensed to develop Greater Sunrise.