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East Timor to Receive Bulk of Timor Sea Oil Revenue
East Timor will receive 90 percent of the oil and gas revenues from drilling in the Timor Sea, with neighboring Australia enjoying the rest, according to an agreement initiated by the two sides on Thursday, sources at the United Nations said.
The agreement ended negotiations since March 2000, the UN East Timor Transitional Administration said in Dili, East Timor's capital. The information was distributed also in U.N. headquarters in New York.
The new accord replaced an earlier treaty between Australia and Indonesia which had run East Timor for 24 years until 1999. The two countries had divided the oil and gas royalties on a 50-50 split.
Oil and gas from the Timor Sea is expected to bring in 100 million U.S. dollars yearly to the territory of East Timor from 2004, according to East Timor estimates.
Income from this sector is seen helpful to the fledging economy which currently depends on agriculture with coffee exports choking some 50 million dollars a year. Per capita income stands at some 400 dollars.
East Timor, with some 800,000 inhabitants, broke away from Indonesia following a referendum in August 1999 which favored independence. It is currently administered by the U.N. and full independence is expected late this year or early next.
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