The Conciliation Commission held meetings during the week of 11 December 2017 in Singapore with the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (“Timor-Leste”) and the Commonwealth of Australia (“Australia”), as well as with the Greater Sunrise Joint Venture. The purpose of these meetings was both to review progress on the pathway to the development of the Greater Sunrise gas fields and to fix a timeframe for the signature of the maritime boundary treaty agreed between the two governments.

These meetings are part of a structured dialogue in the context of the conciliation between the Timor-Leste and Australia being conducted by a Conciliation Commission pursuant to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (the “PCA”). In the course of the conciliation proceedings, the Parties have reached agreement on the text of a treaty which delimits the maritime boundary between them in the Timor Sea and addresses the legal status of the Greater Sunrise gas field, the establishment of a Special Regime for Greater Sunrise, a pathway to the development of the resource, and the sharing of the resulting revenue.