Dear Colleagues,
Thought this might interest you
Happy Christmas and successful New Year
Best wishes - Charles
CANBERRA, Dec 10 Asia Pulse - East Timor today accused Australia of pocketing
billions of dollars worth of oil and gas which belonged to the impoverished
nation.
East Timorese Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said
three gas and oil fields dividing the two nations under the sea - Buffalo,
Laminaria and Corralina - belonged to East Timor under international law.
He also claimed the Greater Sunrise field - most of which is outside the
joint development treaty between Australia and East Timor - belonged solely to
East Timor and could earn the tiny nation billions of dollars.
Dr
Ramos-Horta also accused Australia of deliberately dragging out talks on a
permanent maritime boundary between the two nations, which would settle each
country's share of the oil and gas field.
"The Australian side has
agreed to have two meetings a year, we would prefer to have more regular
meetings, maybe once a month but from what I've read in some publications the
Australian side has said it can not afford to have ... more than two meetings,"
he told the National Press Club.
"If Australia says it doesn't have
money, doesn't have resources for more than two meetings a year, who am I to
doubt it?"
Dr Ramos-Horta joked he could call in the United Nations to
help Australia become more economically viable.
He said Australia had
made about $US1.5 billion ($A2.03 billion) from the Buffalo, Laminaria and
Corralina fields while the Greater Sunrise field would yield billions of
dollars.
Australia claimed 80 per cent of Greater Sunrise under the
terms of a maritime treaty signed with Indonesia when it occupied East Timor.
"If we follow the middle-line approach, the entire Sunrise (field is)
under East Timor," Dr Ramos-Horta said.
"Accordingly to many experts,
Greater Sunrise would yield billions of dollars for Timor L'esta.
"It's
our view that these fields - Buffalo, Laminaria and Corralina - that have been
... under Australian licences rightly are part of East Timor sovereign rights."
Dr Ramos-Horta predicted there would be some tumultuous discussions in
the next few months between Australia and East Timor over a maritime boundary.
"The difficulty it that the Timor side believes firmly that some areas
of the gas and oil in the Timor Sea belong exclusively to the Timorese side," he
said.
"(Foreign Minister) Alexander Downer believes exactly the
opposite."
Dr Ramos-Horta said he hoped Australia would refrain from
signing any new licences before there was a resolution on a maritime boundary.
"What I believe firmly is our claims are solely grounded on
international law, that's our only strength," he said.
