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Government officials from Australia and East Timor signed a last-minute agreement March 6 over rights to the Greater Sunrise gas field. The breakthrough deal paves the way for the Australian Senate to ratify the Timor Sea Treaty, which in turn will open the gates to gas production in the Timor Sea. The East Timorese Parliament ratified the treaty in December 2002.
Neither government has released the details of the unitization deal, but it appears East Timor has agreed to settle for 20 percent of the profits from the Greater Sunrise and to forfeit any future legal recourse over the field, which with 252 billion cubic meters of gas is worth $12 billion.
Dili's decision reflects its need to resolve a related dispute with Australia over the Bayu-Undan gas field, the development of which has been held up by Canberra's insistence that agreement first be reached over revenues from Greater Sunrise.
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