The Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and Interlocutor in the discussions on Greater Sunrise, Agio Pereira, met today, June 20th, 2024, by videoconference, with Andy Drummond, Executive Vice-President of Woodside Energy, to discuss the state of play and the development of Greater Sunrise.
Representatives of the Joint Venture partners took part in the meeting, namely Antonio Dos Santos, Woodside’s Country Director in Timor-Leste; David Reid, APAC’s General Director of Evaluation and Development and Chairman of the Sunrise Joint Venture Committee; Rui Soares, President and CEO of Timor GAP; Otsuka Yo, Executive Director of Osaka Gas Australia; Rod Lake, Commercial Director of Osaka Gas Australia; and Ika Moniz, Senior Advisor and Policy and Public Relations Advisor to the Office of the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
During the meeting, the progress of the Sunrise Joint Venture was updated, and the Sunrise concept study, which began last April, was reviewed.
Minister Agio Pereira spoke about his role as Interlocutor in the discussions on Greater Sunrise and emphasised that this is the most critical project for Timor-Leste. The Government’s priority is to make progress in the development of Greater Sunrise to maximise job creation in the country, in line with the 9th Constitutional Government’s Programme. The Minister also mentioned that, in the short term, to realise this vision, the Government will continue to engage in negotiations with the companies involved in the Greater Sunrise process, as provided for in the Maritime Boundary Treaty between Timor-Leste and Australia, for the implementation of the special regime for the Greater Sunrise fields through a pipeline to Timor-Leste.
This meeting with Woodside Energy and the other joint venture partners reflected a new approach, marked by a more open and constructive mindset in discussions about Greater Sunrise.
All participants agreed to hold more meetings in the future to strengthen the capacity of all parties to work together to find real and substantial solutions for the development of Greater Sunrise.
Woodside, an Australian energy company, is part of the consortium developing the Greater Sunrise fields (Sunrise Joint Venture). It owns 33.44 per cent, TIMOR GAP 56.6 per cent, and Osaka Gas Australia 10 per cent.
The Sunrise and Troubadour natural and condensate gas fields, together known as the Greater Sunrise fields, are located about 150 kilometres south-east of Timor-Leste and 450 kilometres north-west of Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory.