Reuters: Australia's Woodside Opens Door to Resolving E.Timor Gas Dispute

Australia's Woodside Petroleum is in talks with East Timor on building an onshore gas plant, potentially removing one of the major barriers to developing gas fields that could provide billions of dollars to one of the world's poorest countries.

Another major obstacle is a dispute between East Timor and its wealthy neighbour Australia on sharing revenue from the Greater Sunrise fields, which lie between the two countries. Both nations have said they are working to resolve the decades-long row but it's not clear how long they will take.

Woodside Chief Executive Peter Coleman said partners on the Greater Sunrise project, which remains undeveloped 40 years after the gas fields were discovered, were talking to the East Timor government and the discussions included the possibility of building an onshore liquefied natural gas plant in East Timor.

His comment, in an interview with Reuters, was the first public confirmation that the Greater Sunrise partners are not completely wedded to building a floating LNG plant, which has long been their preferred option and which has been opposed by the East Timor government. MORE