Timor Sea Historical Background
This article is from The La’o Hamutuk Bulletin (Volume 4, Number 3-4, August 2003).
The Bulletin provides an in-depth analysis of the Timor Sea Oil & Gas issue.
To read the Bulletin with all its graphs, diagrams and drawings, or to download a printable PDF file (in English or Bahasa Indonesia), go to http://www.etan.org/lh/bulletins/bulletinv4n34.html#update
East Timor’s economic independence depends on the money the new nation can earn by selling its natural resources, especially the petroleum deposits which lie under the Timor Sea between East Timor and Australia. These fields, which contain oil and gas worth more than US$30 billion, lie closer to East Timor’s south coast than to any other land. However, due to a history of colonialism, invasion, occupation, and illegal activities by Indonesia and Australia, East Timor could receive less than half of the revenues it should be entitled to under the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In 1972, Australia and Indonesia signed a seabed boundary treaty based on the now outdated continental shelf principle, establishing a seabed boundary much closer to Indonesia than to Australia. Since Portugal (the colonial ruler of East Timor at that time) refused to participate in the discussions, the boundary was incomplete, resulting in the “Timor Gap.”
Indonesia invaded East Timor three years later. In 1979, Australia and Indonesia began negotiations which led the 1989 Timor Gap Treaty dividing the seabed resources in the “Gap,” giving Australia the largest share in return for Australia’s recognition of Indonesia’s illegal annexation of East Timor. Rather than complete the boundary line, the Treaty defined a Zone of Cooperation (ZOC). Within the ZOC’s central Area A, resources would be shared equally between Australia and Indonesia. Australia continued to control areas east and west of the ZOC, based on the 1972 agreement with Indonesia, although some of that territory would now belong to East Timor under UNCLOS principles.
Just after the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre, international oil companies began signing contracts with Australia and Indonesia to explore under the Timor Sea, and oil in East Timor’s territory was first discovered in early 1994 and extracted in 1998 from the Elang-Kakatua field in ZOC-A. No significant petroleum has been found under ZOC areas B and C. In late 1994 the larger Laminaria-Corallina field, was discovered just west of the ZOC.
Because Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor was illegal, the Timor Gap Treaty was also illegal, and Portugal challenged it in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In 1995 the ICJ ruled that it could not invalidate the treaty because Indonesia did not accept ICJ jurisdiction, but that East Timor had an undeniable right to self-determination. In 1999, that right was finally achieved, and the Timor Gap Treaty evaporated when Indonesia’s bloody occupation of East Timor reached its ultimate climax. One month later, Woodside Australian Energy began oil production from the lucrative Laminaria-Corallina oil field.
During the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAET), both the United Nations and East Timor’s leadership recognized the importance of undersea petroleum to East Timor’s future, and they acted to preserve the oil companies’ contracts and continue development, so that East Timor would receive some oil revenues quickly. They also acted to protect Australia’s interests, allowing East Timor’s southern neighbor to continue to occupy maritime territory ceded to it by Indonesia.
The first UNTAET-Australia agreement, in 2000, continued the terms of the 1989 Timor Gap Treaty but substituted “East Timor” for “Indonesia” throughout the document. The 50-50 division of Zone of Cooperation Area A (now called the Joint Petroleum Development Area) was maintained, and a binational agency (the JPDA Joint Authority) was established, under equal control by UNTAET and Australia, to continue managing the development. The following year, UNTAET and Australia renegotiated the agreement to divide petroleum production in the zone, 90% for East Timor and 10% for Australia, signing the Timor Sea Arrangement in July 2001. Australia thus implicitly recognized that the JPDA legally belongs in East Timor’s Exclusive Economic Zone. However, the Joint Authority remained equally under Dili and Canberra, and was based in Darwin.
In the months prior to independence, this arrangement was transformed into the Timor Sea Treaty between East Timor and Australia, which was signed on 20 May 2002, East Timor’s first day as an independent nation. The Timor Sea Treaty continued the 90-10 split, but redefined the Joint Authority as the Timor Sea Designated Authority (TSDA) and gave East Timor two of the three TSDA Commissioners. None of the discussions between UNTAET and Australia covered areas outside the ZOC/JPDA, which has allowed Australia to continue to develop seabed resources that should rightfully belong to East Timor. Although the Timor Sea Treaty and other agreements say they are “without prejudice” to a future maritime boundary settlement (and they become null and void once boundaries are agreed to), there is no incentive for Australia to settle the boundaries, which could end its lucrative maritime occupation, until all the petroleum has been extracted.
Charles
Scheiner
La'o Hamutuk (The
East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis)
P.O. Box 88, Dili, East
Timor
Mobile: +670-7234335
Office landline +670-3325013
fax +670-3317294
Personal: cscheiner@igc.org
La'o Hamutuk: laohamutuk@easttimor.minihub.org
http://www.etan.org/lh
In-depth analysis of the Timor Sea issue: http://www.etan.org/lh/bulletins/bulletinv4n34.html#update
Letter sent [Nov 2003] to Australian Prime Minister by 100 organizations from around the world: http://www.etan.org/news/2003a/11bound.htm
English:
Tetun, Bahasa
Indonesia
La’o Hamutuk, East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis
What is La'o Hamutuk?
La'o Hamutuk (Tetum for Walking Together) is a joint East Timorese-international organization that seeks to monitor and to report on the activities of the principal international institutions present in Timor Loro Sa'e as they relate to the physical and social reconstruction of the country.
* La'o Hamutuk believes that the people of East Timor must be the ultimate decision-makers in this process and that this process should be democratic and transparent.
* La'o Hamutuk is an independent organization and works to facilitate effective East Timorese participation.
* In addition, La'o Hamutuk works to improve communication between the international community and East Timorese society. La'o Hamutuk's East Timorese and international staff have equal responsibilities, and receive equal pay and benefits.
* Finally, La'o Hamutuk is a resource center,
providing literature on development models, experiences, and practices,
as well as facilitating solidarity links between East Timorese groups and
groups abroad with the
aim of creating alternative development
models.
In the spirit of encouraging greater transparency, La'o Hamutuk would like you to contact us if you have documents and/or information that should be brought to the attention of the East Timorese people and the international community.
[La'o Hamutuk is a registered East
Timorese non-government organization (ETNGO)]
La'o Hamutuk (The
East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis)
P.O. Box 88, Dili, East
Timor (via Darwin, Australia)
Mobile: +670-7234335
Office landline +670-3325013
fax +670-3317294
Email: laohamutuk@easttimor.minihub.org
Web: http://www.etan.org/lh
Timor Oil Information:
The La’o Hamutuk Bulletin
Vol. 4, No. 3-4 August 2003
Timor Sea Oil and Gas Update
html: http://www.etan.org/lh/bulletins/bulletinv4n34.html
pdf: http://www.etan.org/lh/pdfs/bulletin/lhbl4n34e.pdf
Tetun:
(the
most popular East Timorese language)
Bahasa Indonesia, English
La’o Hamutuk, Institutu ba Analiza no Monitor Rekonstrusaun Timor Lorosae
Saida mak La’o Hamutuk?
* La’o Hamutuk organizasaun klibur Ema Timor Lorosa’e no Ema Internacional ne’ebe buka atu tau matan, halo analize ho halo relatorio kona ba hahalok (actividade) instuisaun internacional ne’ebe oras ne’e haknaar iha Timor Lorosa’e, liu-liu hahalok sira ne’ebe iha relasaun ho rekonstrusaun fizika no social Timor Lorosa’e nian.
* La’o Hamutuk fiar katak Povo Timor Lorosa’e mak tenke hakotu iha procesu rekonstrusaun ne’e nia laran no procesu rekonstrusaun ne’e tenke demokratiku no transparante duni.
La’o Hamutuk (Institutu
ba Analiza no Monitor Rekonstrusaun Timor Lorosae)
P.O. Box 88, Dili, East
Timor (via Darwin, Australia)
Mobile fone: +670-7234335
Telefone Uma: +670-3325013
fax +670-3317294
Email: laohamutuk@easttimor.minihub.org
Uma-fatin (pájina
primáriu): http://www.etan.org/lh
Tada uluk kona ba Timor nia Mina:
Surat Popular
La’o hamutuk: institutu
ba analiza no monitor rekonstrusaun timor loro sa’e
Saida mak Timor Gap?
('La’o hamutuk' hakerek
Surat Popular sira para atu Timoroan bele diskuti lia ho malu)
pdf: http://www.etan.org/lh/pdfs/surat/timgap.pdf
BACK DOOR Boletin Lia-Foun
Kona ba Timór Loro Sa’e:
http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/tetum.htm
Bahasa
Indonesia:
Tetun, English
La'o Hamutuk: Institut Pemantau dan Analisis Rekonstruksi Timor Timur
* La'o Hamutuk adalah organisasi Timor Loro Sa'e-Internasional yang bertujuan memantau dan melapor tentang kegiatan-kegiatan dari institusi-institusi utama yang ada di Timor Loro Sa'e dalam rangka pembangunan kembali sarana fisik dan sosial.
* Institut La'o Hamutuk ini beroperasi dengan dasar pemikiran bahwa rakyat Timor Loro Sa'e harus menjadi pemutus utama dari proses pembangunan kembali tersebut dan, prosesnya harus se-demokratis dan se-transparan mungkin.
* Dalam hal ini, La'o Hamutuk melakukan suatu analisis yang tidak berpihak terhadap kegiatan Internasional di Timor Loro Sa'e dengan tujuan memfasilitasikan partisipasi yang efektif dan bertingkat oleh rakyat Timor Loro Sa'e dalam proses pembangunan kembali.
La’o Hamutuk (Institut
Pemantau dan Analisis Rekonstruksi Timor Lorosa’e)
P.O. Box 88, Dili, East
Timor (via Darwin, Australia)
Mobil: +670-7234335
Telpon: +670-3325013
fax +670-3317294
Email: laohamutuk@easttimor.minihub.org
Situs/Web: http://www.etan.org/lh
Minyak di Timor - penerangan yg lengkap:
Buletin La’o Hamutuk
Vol. 4, No. 3-4 Agustus
2003
Tinjauan ulang mengenai
Minyak dan Gas di Laut Timor
pdf: http://www.etan.org/lh/pdfs/bulletin/lhbl4n34bh.pdf
BACK DOOR Surat infornasi
mingguan mengenai Timor Lorosa’e:
http://www.pcug.org.au/~wildwood/bahind.htm
Return to main contents
page:
BD:
TIMOR OIL / Mina iha Tasi Timor nia laran / Minyak di Laut Timor / O Petróleo
do Mar de Timor / Le pétrole de la Mer de Timor