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Subject: Gas deal with Australia close,
says E Timor
Also: AP- Alkatiri Visits Norway to Study Oil Market
Last Update: Wednesday, May 25, 2005. 0:44am (AEST)
Gas deal with Australia close, says E Timor
East Timor and Australia are "very close" to reaching a deal on billions of
dollars of oil and gas reserves under their shared Timor Sea, East Timor
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said in Norway.
"I do believe that we are close to a deal, very very close to get a deal,
but still we need to work on some details of the agreement," Mr Alkatiri
told reporters.
It had previously been reported that an agreement has been concluded, but on
Saturday East Timorese officials again denied that a compromise accord had
been signed.
"We are not rushing. We're looking for a good agreement between two
neighbour states," Mr Alkatiri said after a meeting in Oslo with his
Norwegian counterpart Kjell Magne Bondevik.
"We've been discussing for almost three years. It's still a very short time.
Everywhere around the world, (countries) have been discussing for hundreds
of years and they're still waiting to resolve" their problems, he said.
A 1972 sea boundary agreed between Australia and Indonesia gave Canberra
two-thirds of the sea area between the two nations and most of its energy
resources, estimated to be worth around $42 billion.
East Timor, which won independence from Indonesia three years ago, wants the
boundary set at the mid-point between East Timor and Australia, giving it
most of the resources.
Mr Alkatiri refused on Tuesday to disclose the details of the compromise
discussed with Australia.
One of the poorest countries in Asia, East Timor hopes to follow in oil-rich
Norway's footsteps in managing its revenues of black gold, and like the
Scandinavian country is in the process of setting up an oil fund where the
revenues can be put aside for future generations.
Mr Alkatiri said he also hoped to set up a state-controlled oil company like
Norway's Statoil, which is 70.9 per cent-owned by the state.
"The example of Statoil is a very good example. We believe we need a
national company as a way to really control our resources," he said, adding
that such a project could become a reality before the end of the year.
-AFP
AP: Alkatiri Visits Norway to Study Oil Market
Tuesday May 24, 9:26 am ET
By Doug Mellgren, Associated Press Writer
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri opened a
four-day visit to Norway on Tuesday to study the Nordic nation's oil
industry.
East Timor, which gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, is developing
its offshore oil industry with advice from Norway, the world's third-largest
oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia.
"In East Timor, we are at the beginning of this process of oil development,"
Alkatiri said, appearing with Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik
at a news conference.
An initial hurdle to some of East Timor's offshore oil development is
agreeing on a border in the potentially petroleum-rich Timor Sea that
separates it from southern neighbor Australia.
"I do believe we are very, very close to a deal," said Alkatiri, declining
to give details. "I do not negotiate via the media."
The two nations have been haggling for more than a year over how to divide
up an estimated US$30 billion (euro23.5 billion) in revenue from gas and oil
under part of the Timor Sea.
As a guest of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Alkatiri will meet top
political and oil industry leaders. He will also attend seminars on Norway's
Government Petroleum Fund, which invests surplus oil revenues abroad for
future use, and on the state-controlled oil company Statoil ASA.
Impoverished East Timor is now setting up oil industry regulations and an
oil fund and plans a state oil company, largely based on Norwegian models,
Alkatiri said.
"We have to manage the oil resources on the principle of leaving resources
for future generations," the East Timor premier said. "We also do believe we
need a national oil company to help manage the resources."
The petroleum directorate has a six-year cooperation agreement with East
Timor on managing oil resources.
After the news conference, the head of the directorate, Gunnar Berge, said
even though Norwegian oil companies may do business in East Timor, that was
not the point of current cooperation.
"The core of the project is to enable East Timor to best use their
resources," he said. "We have expertise in handling the big international
oil companies, so they are under national control, rather than the other way
around."
Alkatiri's visit lasts through Friday.
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