East Timor firm in gas pipe wrangle, may look elsewhere

East Timor’s president is seeking to allay Australia’s China fears in a tussle over an expansive offshore gas field.

Where the gas would be pumped from the Greater Sunrise fields, about 450km northwest of Darwin and 150km south of East Timor, remains a sticking point in negotiations between Canberra and Dili.

East Timor would receive the bulk of the projected $74 billion but it and Australian energy giant Woodside, which controls one-third of the project, both want gas pumped to their own country.

“We want to develop Greater Sunrise and any other gas field onshore and offshore to guarantee us financial viability for the next 30 or 40 years,” East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

Construction and job-creation benefits are projected to be worth $74 billion while Woodside also prefers Darwin with its established processing hub.

Australia had enough gas to sell and export and didn’t need Greater Sunrise, Mr Ramos-Horta said, while pointing to the national security benefits of propping up East Timor’s economy and making it more independent and self-reliant.

The president said he wanted to closely examine the imminent results of independent study, adding any decision needed to be “purely economics” and not political, citing risks such as the fluctuating price of gas into the future.

But he has threatened to look to other investors outside Australia if the impasse could not be resolved, saying a private fund from Kuwait had been to East Timor five times and offered about $18 billion.

A group of more than 30 executives representing 300 companies in China had travelled to East Timor and another group will arrive soon, although this would include academics as well, he said.

Chinese oil and gas giant Sinopec expressed interest, he added. The company has been contacted for comment.

“The Chinese are interested … and they have the means, the experience, the expertise,” he told AAP after his speech.

But his prime minister was “pragmatic” and would continue to work with the existing joint venture, which is between Timor Gap and Woodside.

“There is no reason to change partners at the moment, unless, in the future, all partners want to bring in more investment,” he said.

He denied his nation was trying to strongarm Australia by pausing acceptance of a patrol boat, a move seen by some analysts as an implication security ties remained contingent on gas negotiations.

“You call it ‘leverage’ but we say we look for partners,” he quipped.

“If Australia doesn’t feel like it, we can totally understand it but then either we talk with the Chinese or the Kuwaitis.”

But he ruled out any security partnerships with China, as Canberra remains concerned about Beijing muscling its way into the Pacific through policing pacts.

He said the only security partnerships were with Australian military police, Portuguese military, navy and police personnel, and a small number of US navy engineers.

Mr Ramos-Horta met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang during a state visit in July, saying they discussed agriculture as his country wanted to learn from China about drawing itself out of poverty and increasing food production.