Petroleum activities both in the Joint Development Area (JPDA) and Exclusive Area (TLEA) are conducted according to Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) signed between the oil companies and the National Petroleum Authority (ANP), or its predecessor the Timor Sea Designated Authority (TSDA). Under Article 30.1(a)(i) of Timor-Leste's 2005 Petroleum Act and Article 20.1(a) the Interim Petroleum Mining Code for the JPDA, all PSCs signed after that date are public documents. The 2005 legislation also included model PSCs for the TLEA and JPDA, which serve as templates for the PSCs for each specific area.

The PSCs signed in 2006 were posted to several government websites at the time, but those sites have been allowed to die, and time these contracts are no longer available on the internet. Therefore, La'o Hamutuk is including them in our website is order to help implement transparency provisions in the law. We continue to urge the Government and the ANP to do the same.

In addition to the summaries below, the ANP website includes some information, as well as the following ANP annual and quarterly reports:

• 2008 Annual Report (English, 4.6 MB)
• 2009 Annual Report (English, 2.7 MB)
• 2010 Annual Report (English, 4.5 MB or Tetum 6.4 MB)
• 2011 quarterly reports:  Jan-Mar,  Apr-Jun,  Jul-Sep,  Oct-Dec  (all Tetum)

Contracts signed in 2006 in Timor-Leste's Exclusive Area

• 06-01 A with Eni (80%), GALP (10%), Kogas (10%).

• 06-02 B with Eni (80%), GALP (10%), Kogas (10%).

• 06-03 C with Eni (80%), GALP (10%), Kogas (10%). This area contains the Cova-1 and other test wells. The JV relinquished 25% of this block in 2009. In January 2010, the Cova-1 test well came up dry.

• 06-04 E with Eni (80%), GALP (10%), Kogas (10%). The JV relinquished 25% of this block in 2009.

• 06-05 H with Eni (80%), GALP (10%), Kogas (10%). The JV relinquished 25% of this block in 2009.

• 06-06 K with Reliance. In 2008, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Oil India Ltd each bought 12.5% of this PSC. Reliance drilled a test well here in December 2010, but did not find commercial quantities of gas or oil. They are pulling out of Timor-Leste.

Contracts were signed in 2006 for the green areas on the map; older areas are in yellow. The operator of each area is listed in bold :

• JPDA 06-101A with Minza Oil and Gas. (summary). Minza will drill one exploration well in 2011.

• JPDA 06-102 with Petronas (50%), Korea Gas (30%), Samsung (10%) and LG (10%). (summary)
  After four dry wells, this area has been relinquished.

• JPDA 06-103 with Oilex (10%),  Videocon (20%), Bharat PetroResources (20%) and Gujarat State Petroleum Company (20%). (summary). Pan Pacific Petroleum (15%) and Japan Energy (15%) joined the joint venture in 2009.  In January 2011, the ANP agreed to extend the work plan until January 2012. Oilex has drilled two dry wells, and conducted seismic exploration during 2011. At the beginning of 2012 the ANP gave Oilex another year until 15 January 2013, although they will relinquish 25% of the PSC. A third test well is planned for mid-2012.

• JPDA 06-104 was awarded to Zetex, which withdrew its bid before signing a contract.

• JPDA 06-105 (replaced part of JPDA 03-01) with Woodside (40%), INPEX (35%), Talisman Resources (25%). In September 2007 Woodside sold its share to Eni. This area contains the Kitan field which began production in October 2012 and is estimated to contain 34.6 million barrels of oil. Eni is considering further exploration in other parts of this contract area.

Contracts signed before 2006 in the JPDA

Contracts signed before the 2005 laws went into effect are not legally obligated to be published. La'o Hamutuk and others have repeatedly asked the oil companies and relevant authorities to give permission for them to be made available.

The partners in the Bayu-Undan joint venture have agreed to publish parts of the contracts, although many paragraphs have been censored. Bayu-Undan is the only currently producing field providing revenue to Timor-Leste. These contracts also include the Elang-Kakatua field which ceased production in 2007. Current partners in Bayu-Undan are ConocoPhillips (57.2%), Santos (11.4%), Inpex (11.3%), Eni (11.0%), Tokyo Electric/Tokyo Gas (9.2%).

• JPDA 03-12 with ConocoPhillips, Santos, Inpex, Petroz and Emet (signed on 2 April 2003 to replace an occupation-era contract) was amended in May 2003

• JPDA 03-13 with ConocoPhillips (signed on 2 April 2003 to replace an occupation-era contract) was amended in May 2003

The partners in the Greater Sunrise joint venture (Woodside (33.4%), Shell (26.6%), ConocoPhillips (30%) and Osaka Gas (10%)) refuse to make any parts of their PSCs public, and we have not been able to obtain them. This includes two PSCs inside the JPDA (JPDA 03-19 and JPDA 03-20) and two other contracts in the area occupied by Australia.

Other contracts signed in 2003 are no longer in effect.

• JPDA 03-01 has been replaced by JPDA 06-105

• JPDA 03-16 with ConocoPhillips (100%). Terminated in 2006 when ConocoPhillips declined to sign a new contract with the TSDA under the new Petroleum Mining Code.

• JPDA 03-21 with ConocoPhillips (75%) and Eni (25%). Terminated in 2006 when the joint venture declined to sign a new contract with the TSDA under the new Petroleum Mining Code.

From 2011 onwards

Although results to date have not been very promising, the Government remains optimistic. The hope to do another bidding round on vacant JPDA acreage in late 2011 or early 2012, and one in Timor-Leste's exclusive area sometime after that.

The Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis (La’o Hamutuk)
Institutu Timor-Leste ba Analiza no Monitor ba Desenvolvimentu
Rua dos Martires da Patria, Bebora, Dili, Timor-Leste
P.O. Box 340, Dili, Timor-Leste
Tel: +670-3321040 or +670-7234330
email: info@laohamutuk.org    Web: http://www.laohamutuk.org