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 TIMOR
LESTE
Australasia
The Timor Gap Zone of Co-operation (ZOC) was agreed in
1989 by Indonesia and Australia. This was transferred to East Timor, now
Timor Leste, in 2002 and renamed the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA)
under the Timor Sea Treaty.
The treaty governs a 62,000 square km area overlying the
Bonaparte basin between Timor Leste and Australia. Revenue is to be
split 90:10 in favour of Timor Leste, nullifying the previous agreement,
which split royalties equally between the two countries.
 Timor Leste ratified the treaty in December 2002 but
Australian approval was held up by negotiations over an international
unitization agreement. The unitization agreement currently governs how
royalties are divided from the Sunrise gas field, which lies
approximately 20% in the treaty area and 80% in Australian waters.
Bayu-Undan: The Bayu-Undan gas/condensate field,
operated by ConocoPhillips is the main discovery within the JPDA. After
a 3-year exploration programme the field was discovered in early 1995
with the well Bayu-1. Undan-1 was subsequently drilled in the
neighbouring licence area.
The field is located in 80 m of water, 250 kms south of
Suai in Timor-Leste and 500 kms northwest of Darwin in Australia. It is
estimated to contain 400 mm Bbls of condensate and 96 Bcm of gas.
The field achieved first liquids production in February
2004 of which Timor Leste receives 90%. In this first phase, the
Bayu-Undan Gas Recycle facility produces and processes wet gas,
separates and stores condensate, propane and butane, and re-injects dry
gas.
The field is designed to produce 115,000 Bbls per day of
combined condensate, propane and butane from 31 mm cubic metres of gas,
of which 27 mm cubic metres of dry gas is recycled back into the
reservoir. The central production and processing complex comprises 2
platforms supporting drilling, production and processing equipment and
compression facilities with slots for 16 wells. There is also an
unmanned wellhead platform with slots for a further 14 wells.
A permanently moored FSO is capable of storing 3
different products (condensate, propane and butane). The operator has
also been working to progress the gas export phase as part of a regional
gas development strategy. A 3.52 mm tonne per year LNG project located
at Wickham Point, near Darwin is planned. A gas pipeline will be built
from the Bayu-Undan field to the facility and the LNG will mostly be
sold to The Tokyo Electric Power Company.
Other Timor Leste: Shell is hoping to develop its
Greater Sunrise gas complex also for LNG and liquids. These fields are
estimated to contain 320 mm bbls of liquids and 250 Bcm gas.
Santos and ConocoPhillips, joint venture partners in the
Bayu-Undan project, are exploring other gas prospects in the NT/P61
license area. The NT/P61 permit area, granted in 2001, covers over 5,300
square kms and is adjacent to the Evans Shoal gas field in Australia.
Timor Leste has also conducted its own licensing round in
its coastal waters and it remains to be seen what drilling will yield in
this area.
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