Sobre o Petróleo

Timor-Leste is considered a highly prospective area for petroleum, both onshore and offshore. There are dozens of onshore oil and gas seeps. The oil seeps are unique in that they contain very light oil, actually light enough to be used as motor fuel directly. This is indicative of deeper lying oil pools, derived from a petroleum system very similar to those we see in the Timor Sea today. All the exploration activity onshore took place before 1975, and is only being reactivated now. The region remains relatively under-explored, which is why the Timor-Leste Government has given priority to developing a legal regime to underpin development. Many of the known oil-bearing rock formations (sandstones) in the prospective part of the JPDA, are very similar to what is found in the North Sea. There are also indications of potentially large hydrocarbon resources in limestone reservoirs, similar to what is seen in the Middle East.

KNOWN RESERVES

The Bayu-Undan field has estimated reserves of 3.4tcf and 400m barrels of condensate. Regular production of condensate began in February 2004, and the field is expected to begin producing LNG in 2006. Total investment in this project is more than $US3 billion.
The Greater Sunrise field has 7.8tcf and 300 million barrels of condensate. This field straddles the JPDA and as a result is unitized under an agreement signed in March 2003. It lies in an area claimed by both Timor-Leste and Australia. The Government has been holding productive talks with Australia to resolve the disputed claims, which in turn will allow development to proceed.
The Laminaria-Corallina and Bufallo fields, which lie just to the west of the JPDA area, have total reserves worth around $US6 billion.


Bayu-Undan

Bayu-Undan is the most significant petroleum discovery so far in the Timor Sea Treaty area, known as the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA).

The Bayu-Undan field may contain reserves of 400 million barrels of condensate (light oil) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), and 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The Bayu-Undan field is operated by ConocoPhillips (formerly Phillips Petroleum). ConocoPhillips' partners in the Bayu-Undan development are petroleum companies Eni, Emet, Inpex, Petroz and Santos.

The Gas Liquids Phase: Bayu-Undan began producing gas liquids (condensate and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in February 2004. This phase involves extracting the gas, separating the liquids and then reinjecting the gas back into the reservoir where it will remain until the second phase commences. A floating processing and storage facility, 'Liberdade', which was built in South Korea and delivered to the Timor Sea in October 2003, is permanently anchored at Bayu-Undan during this phase.

The Bayu-Undan Platforms

LIBERDADE

"Liberdade' is the largest floating LPG storage facility ever built. It has the dimensions of three football fields and can store about 230,000 cubic metres of condensate and LPG - the equivalent of 90 Olympic swimming pools.
'Liberdade' processes the condensate and LPG and stores them before they are loaded onto tankers for export. The products will be sold to various buyers on the open market. The Gas Phase: Bayu-Undan is expected to begin producing LNG in 2006. In this phase, the gas will be extracted from the reservoir and transported to Darwin, Australia via a pipeline. There, it will be liquefied at a processing plant and then shipped as liquefied natural gas (LNG) to customers Tokyo Electric Power Company and Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. (TE/TG) in Japan. ConocoPhillips has entered into agreements with TE/TG to supply three million tonnes of Bayu-Undan LNG per year (over 17 years). The construction of the pipeline is estimated to cost about US$500 million. The LNG liquefaction plant in Darwin is estimated to cost about US$1 billion.

Potential benefit to Timor-Leste

The estimated benefit to Timor-Leste from the full Bayu-Undan development is around US$5 billion over the life of the field, likely to be about 20 years. These resources will go some of the way to assisting Timor-Leste's reconstruction and development. By way of comparison, the current annual expenditure budget of Timor-Leste is about US$75 million.

Greater Sunrise

The Greater Sunrise field is the largest known petroleum resource in the Timor Sea. The Greater Sunrise field may contain as much as 300 million barrels of condensate (light oil) and LPG, and about 8 trillion cubic feet of gas, which will be converted into LNG. The Greater Sunrise field straddles the eastern perimeter of the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) established under the Timor Sea Treaty. The field lies fully within an area that would likely belong to Timor-Leste under a maritime boundary agreement consistent with international law.

The International Unitisation Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding

The International Unitisation Agreement (IUA) and related Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Greater Sunrise field were signed by the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia on 6 March 2003.

As the Greater Sunrise field lies partly inside the JPDA and partly outside, It was necessary for Timor-Leste and Australia to reach agreement on developing the deposit as one unit (referred to as a unitisation agreement) for legal, fiscal and administrative purposes.

There are many examples around the world of unitisation agreements, for example, between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in relation to the North Sea. However, the Greater Sunrise IUA is unique because it involves a petroleum deposit that straddles a temporary revenue sharing area, as opposed to a permanent maritime boundary.

Under the Greater Sunrise IUA, Timor-Leste will receive 18 per cent of the total government revenues from the field, while Australia will receive 82 per cent. Like the Timor Sea Treaty, the IUA in its current form will terminate when permanent maritime boundaries are agreed.

In recognition of Timor-Leste's taxing rights over the entire Greater Sunrise field, the MOU for Greater Sunrise records an agreement that Australia will make annual payments to Timor-Leste of (1) US$1 million during the construction phase of the Greater Sunrise development, and (2) US$10 million once the field goes into production. These payments will be made only if the field is developed with a floating LNG plant located in the Greater Sunrise area, rather than an onshore plant.

The IUA and MOU have not yet been ratified by the Timor-Leste National Parliament.

Development of the Greater Sunrise Field

The Greater Sunrise partnership consists of the operator Woodside Energy, Royal Dutch/Shell, ConocoPhillips, and Osaka Gas.

The Greater Sunrise partners have not yet agreed on a development concept for the gas in the field. There are three options under consideration:

. Transporting the gas to Timor-Leste and processing it at a new LNG plant in Timor-Leste. An LNG plant located in Timor-Leste would be much closer to the field than a plant in Australia. It would also provide important stimulus to the local economy. Therefore, the Timor-Leste Government is actively encouraging the companies to give serious consideration to this option.

. Transporting the gas to Darwin, Australia and processing it at an existing LNG plant in Darwin.
. Processing the gas at sea at an LNG plant located on a ship.

Fonte: http://www.transparency.gov.tl