Fifth Anniversary of TIMOR GAP, EP
Created by Decree-Law N. 31/2011 of July 27th, approved by the Council of Minister two months earlier, the national oil company has been making the most of Timor-Leste’s participation in the development of its Oil sector.
TIMOR GAP, EP marked the anniversary with the publication of a special edition of its "newsletter", (available at www.timorgap.com), which summarizes the most important events of the last five years.
In 2011, with only 22 employees, TIMOR GAP created its first subsidiary, GAP-MHS Aviation Ltd., which started providing support services by the end of the year to the Kitan field in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA), Timor Sea.
One of the priorities in 2012 was the institutional development through training and recruitment. The policies of the company were approved and it began the supervision and administration of several studies of the Tasi Mane Project, including the environmental impact study for the supply base in Suai, the strategic environmental impact study of the Betano Refinery Project and a detailed study of the route for the gas pipeline in the Greater Sunrise field, from the Timor Sea to Beaço.
Two years after its creation, the number of TIMOR GAP employees increased to 95. In 2013, the company participated for the first time in exploration and production activities with the signing of its first Production Sharing Contract in the JPDA. The Suai community delivered 1,113 hectares of land to the Government for the development of the Suai supply base.
In 2014, the modernization of the Suai airport began an essential infrastructure for the development of the south coast. Also a third subsidiary was created, the "Timor Gap Oil and Gas Marine & Logistic Services" to provide maritime and logistics services.
In 2015, the highlight was the Government’s Resolution on the participation of TIMOR GAP, EP in petroleum operations in Timor-Leste’s exclusive area. The company was authorised to participate in onshore and offshore production sharing contracts in the Exclusive Area of Timor-Leste, in order to reduce the geological risk and improve the knowledge about the potential existing hydrocarbons. The company signed its second PSC and TIMOR GAP Seismic Service, a geological studies company based in Singapore, was created. This company, a partnership between TIMOR GAP and BGP GeoExplorer, started a survey of seismic 3D data in the sea Exclusive Area of Timor-Leste in December of that year.
In April 2016, on the eve of its fifth year of existence, TIMOR GAP, EP reached a new milestone by becoming the first Timorese company to be certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The three documents (ISO 9001: 2008, ISO 14001: 2004 and ISO18001: 2007) internationally certify the quality, health, and safety management and the business environment of the company. In the same month, it reached another milestone with the opening of the first gas supply station of TIMOR GAP, in the Suco of Camenaça, on the south coast.
The Tasi Mane Project is currently proceding through a significant development phase, with a completion of the study on the Liquefied Natural Gas plant, the start of construction on the road linking Suai to Zumalai and the continued construction of the Suai airport, which should be finished in 2017.
