JPDA bidding

During the first half of 2006, Timor-Leste also conducted a bidding round for its undisputed sovereign maritime territory in the Timor Sea. Follow this link for more information.

Contents and links:

New Petroleum Mining Code and model Production Sharing Contract for the JPDA

The Timor Sea Designated Authority (TSDA) would like to announce that the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (RDTL) and the Government of Australia have completed their formal processes, through an exchange of letters by Dr Mari Alkatiri, Prime Minister and Minister for Natural Resources, Minerals and Energy Policy for RDTL and Mr Ian McFarlane, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources for Australia, to implement a new Petroleum Mining Code (PMC) and a model production sharing contract (PSC) in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA).

The new PMC and model PSC will apply to new contract areas currently advertised in the TSDA’s Acreage Release 2006.

“This occasion marks a new era for the joint operations established under the Timor Sea Treaty between the two Governments. The legislative and fiscal system establishes a competitive and stable environment for investors. These are exciting times for us,” said Mr Jose Lobato, Executive Director of the TSDA.

For further information on the JPDA Acreage Release 2006 please see our website at: www.timorseada.org

NEW AREAS IN THE JOINT DEVELOPMENT AREA IN TIMOR SEA NOW 'OPEN FOR BUSINESS'

MEDIA RELEASE from Ian Macfarlane, MP (Australian Resources Minister)
10 March 2006

The remainder of the Joint Petroleum Development Area of the Timor Sea is now open for business with the Australian and East Timorese Governments finalising a Petroleum Mining Code and model Production Sharing Contract.

Australian Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane, has agreed to the documents on behalf of the Australian Government with East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

The 2002 Timor Sea Treaty, along with the Code and model Contract , governs the exploration, development and exploitation of petroleum within the JPDA.

"In practical terms, agreement to the Code and model Contract ensures companies have certainty of conditions under which to take up acreage for exploration and development within the JPDA," said Mr Macfarlane.

"This announcement opens the door to business in an area which is estimated to hold recoverable gas reserves of more than 5 trillion cubic feet and 500 million barrels of oil, condensate and liquefied petroleum gas," he said.

The new PMC and PSC will apply to new contract areas currently advertised in the Timor Sea Designated Authority's Acreage Release 2006. The interim PMC and PSCs will continue to regulate the exploration, development and exploitation of petroleum within existing releases.

"Implementation of these two instruments will benefit both countries as companies begin to develop the remainder of the JPDA. In particular, the documents will assist the development and economic prosperity of one of our closest neighbours."

"This is the certainty investors have been seeking and I look forward to hearing of companies exploring the opportunity this development provides," he said.

Natural gas is the fastest growing fossil fuel in the world, accounting for one quarter of the world's primary energy consumption.

Global demand is projected to grow to 4.9 trillion cubic metres per annum by 2030.

AGREEMENT ON EXTENSION TO TIMOR SEA ARRANGEMENTS

MEDIA RELEASE from Ian Macfarlane, MP (Australian Resources Minister)
11 April 2006

The existing arrangements for the Timor Sea Designated Authority will continue for a further 12 months, following a request for the extension from East Timor under the provisions of the Timor Sea Treaty.

The 12 month extension has been agreed to allow exploration and development of the area to continue under the existing joint management arrangements between East Timor and Australia.

"Operators are advised that the administrative arrangements in place in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) to date will continue to apply until 2 April 2007," said Australian Resources Minister, Ian Macfarlane.

"The agreement provides Australian resources companies operating in the JPDA with certainty that the rules are not changing and that the administrative arrangements applying to the Designated Authority will continue as is," he said.

The JPDA is managed jointly by Australia and East Timor under the terms established by the Timor Sea Treaty 2003.

The Treaty established a three-tiered joint administrative structure consisting of a Ministerial Council, a Joint Commission and a Designated Authority.

Mr Macfarlane is the Australian representative on the Ministerial Council. East Timor's Prime Minister Alkatiri represents East Timor on the Council, in his capacity as East Timor's Minister with responsibility for resources issues.

"While the role of the Joint Commission will continue into the immediate future, this extension is to allow East Timor the time it requires to resolve issues related to the transfer of the Designated Authority to the Government of East Timor," he said.

The Joint Commission consists of three Commissioners, two of whom are appointed by East Timor and one by Australia. The Joint Commission oversees the work of the Designated Authority.

"The Joint Commission provides Australia and East Timor with the ability to take an active role in the management and regulation of the JPDA, consistent with our rights and responsibilities under the Timor Sea Treaty," said Mr Macfarlane.

"The role of the Designated Authority is to administer the JPDA on behalf of the Governments of Australia and East Timor."

STRONG BIDS FOR JPDA CONTRACTS AREAS

The Timor Sea Designated Authority (TSDA) opened bids in Darwin yesterday after the deadline for the JPDA offshore acreage closed on Friday, 26 May. The TSDA regulates the Joint Petroleum Development Area on behalf of the Timor-Leste and Australian governments, pursuant to the Timor Sea Treaty.

"I am very pleased with the strong interest shown by the industry, including Australian and international oil and gas companies, for the inaugural bid release held by the TSDA. The bids reflect both the prospectivity of the JPDA and the attractive PSC terms that were on offer. After all the JPDA is well known for world class projects like the gas condensate Bayu-Undan project and the giant Greater Sunrise fields", said Jose Lobato, Executive Director of the TSDA.

The TSDA will evaluate the bids over the next few weeks. The evaluation process will take into consideration the exploration work programme which will best and expeditiously evaluate the petroleum potential of the Contract Area.

The TSDA is scheduled to make a recommendation to the Joint Commission before the end of June 2006 for the Joint Commission’s approval. Following this approval, the TSDA will announce the bidding results.

The TSDA expects to sign Production Sharing Contracts with the successful bidders during August 2006.

The Guidelines for Application for PSC and Assessment of PSC can be found in the TSDA website http://www.timorseada.org.

Media Enquiries: Niny Borges, niny.borges@timorseada.org, +670 723 1229 or +61 409 900 015.

Despite the current unrest in Timor Leste, 12 oil companies have submitted bids individually and in groups for the four exploration blocks on offer in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) that the tiny nation shares with Australia.

Companies submitted their bids on 26 May, despite the state of emergency declared in Timor Leste after more than a month of serious unrest in and around the capital Dili.

It is understood dozens of people have died and many were injured after the government in Dili dismissed one third of the country's defence force.

The dismissals erupted into violent confrontations between members of the defence force, rebel soldiers and the country's police force.

Armed gangs took advantage of the unrest to loot and burn houses in the capital. As Upstream went to press, Timor Leste's President Xanana Gusmão had declared a state of emergency across the country.

He is also reported to have taken command of the armed forces and internal security amid calls for Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri to resign. Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia have sent peacekeeping troops to Timor Leste, while United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations sheltered and tried to feed some 100,000 people in camps, including 65,000 around Dili. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the situation in Timor Leste "sad and tragic," and was expecting a political assessment as to what went wrong from Special Envoy Ian Martin. Members of the International Donor Community urged the Timorese to end the current crisis and restore peace to the country.

"As the world's newest nation, Timor Leste had made great strides in recovering from the devastation of the 1999 crisis, building its economy and starting a civil service from scratch," the donors said.

"These gains, which have been achieved through the significant efforts of the Timorese people, must not be lost to violence and conflict. "The country and its people still have bright prospects for the future, but all involved must now grasp the opportunity for dialogue amongst each other and with the population in pursuit of a peaceful solution." Meanwhile, the joint Timorese-Australian regulator of the JPDA, the Timor Sea Designated Authority (TSDA), will evaluate the bids for the four blocks and make a recommendation to the Joint Commission before the end of June, before announcing the bidding results.

The TSDA expects to sign production sharing contracts with the successful bidders in August.

A TSDA spokesperson was confident the round would continue as planned. The four blocks on offer range in size from 3770 square kilo-metres to 5770 square kilometres, and lie in water depths of 70 metres to 1000 metres. Two areas are just east of the producing Bayu-Undan field and contain existing gas discoveries. One area lies near the Kuda-Tasi and Jahal oilfields, currently under development, and one area lies next to the giant Greater Sunrise fields.

Under the Timor Sea Treaty between Australia and Timor Leste, the tiny nation gets 90% of petroleum revenues from all oil and gas projects in the JPDA.

Timor Sea Designated Authority awards first contract under new PSC regime

“I am delighted to inform you all that the Timor Sea Designated Authority has, on behalf of the governments of both Timor-Leste and Australia, and in accordance with pre-existing obligations under an earlier contract, entered into a new Production Sharing Contract with established Oil and Gas companies: Woodside; INPEX; and Talisman, said Jose Lobato, Executive Director of the Timor Sea Designated Authority.

This Production Sharing Contract, JPDA PSC 06-105, is granted pursuant to the terms of an Interim Production Sharing Contract that had been previously issued. The Contract Area contains the Jahal and Kuda Tasi discoveries and it is hoped by all parties that further exploration and appraisal may lead to a commercially viable prospect being developed in the near future.

“This contract demonstrates that companies that hold existing contracts are willing to enter into new Production Sharing Contracts in the Joint Petroleum Development Area and that Timor-Leste is an attractive place to do business and commit resources. We hope it will also create synergies with other developments in the region especially in Timor-Leste”.

The Joint Petroleum Development Area is in a proven oil and gas province containing the lucrative Bayu-Undan and the promising Greater Sunrise gas/condensate fields.

For further information, please contact Niny Borges on +670 723 1229 or by email (niny.borges@timorseada.org)

JPDA Acreage Release 2006 - Award of Bids

“Evaluation of bids received by the Timor Sea Designated Authority in response to our inaugural acreage release is now complete. It is with great pleasure that I am able to inform you that the Timor Sea Joint Commission gave approval today to the TSDA to enter into four new Production Sharing Contracts”, said Jose Lobato, the TSDA’s Executive Director speaking in Darwin earlier today.

The TSDA has been given approval by the Timor Sea Joint Commission to enter into Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) with the following oil and gas companies/consortia:

Contract Area	Awarded to
06-101	Minza Oil Ltd
06-102	Petronas Consortium: Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn. Bhd., Korea Gas Corp., Samsung Corp., and LG International Corp
06-103	Oilex Consortium: Oilex N.L, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Videocon Industries Ltd., and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. Ltd.
06-104	Zetex N.V. (Zetex withdrew its bid on 29 August)

“We warmly welcome these new companies to the JPDA. Their commitment to a robust exploration work programme will mark another era in the exploration of the JPDA one which we hope will bring with it further oil and gas discoveries” said Mr Jose Lobato.

The companies are awarded the right and are obligated to enter into a PSC with the TSDA. It is anticipated that all contracts will be signed by 30 September 2006.

Bidder	Duddel Resources Ltd.		Minza Oil Ltd.	Oilex Consort.		Petronas Consort.	Santos Pty. Ltd.	Zetex N.V
JPDA PSC	06 -102	06 -104	06 -101	06 -102	06 -103	06 - 102	06 -104	06 -104
Work Programme
Years 1-3
2D Seismic	150 Km	303 Km	500 Km	820 Km	1060 Km		600 Km	3,001 Km
3D Seismic				720 Km	1020 sq Km	300 sq Km
Expl. Wells.				2	4	3		3
Work Programme
Years 4-5
2D Seismic
3D Seismic				220 sq Km	520 sq Km	100 sq Km		155 sq Km
Expl. Wells.	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Work Programme
Years 6-7
2D Seismic
3D Seismic						100 sq Km
Expl. Wells				1	1	1		1

Gandhinagar, August 17: SEEKING to expand its business horizons beyond the Indian shores, the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has successfully earned an offshore oil and gas block in north-western Australia and is in the process of winning another offshore block in the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) lying between Australia and East Timor.

This is for the first time since its inception in 1979 that the GSPC has successfully made a foray into overseas business. This was confirmed by GSPC chairman Balwant Singh on Thursday. The W05-11 offshore block in north-western Australia will be developed by GSPC with its consortium partners Videocon and Australia's leading company Oilex.

"We are happy that the GSPC has begun making a foray into drilling and exploration of oil/gas abroad. Its consortium winning the award for the block in Australia will certainly strengthen its financial position, as this will help the corporation swap natural gas with other producers outside India, particularly in the middle-eastern countries, "Singh said, adding that a team of GSPC officials will shortly leave for Australia to sign relevant documents for the block.

Meanwhile, sources said that GSPC's consortium had also acquired another existing offshore block called EPP 27 in Australia and was in the process of earning yet another oil/gas block in JPDA lying between Australia and East Timor.

Since other major companies have been successfully exploring 15-20 TCF of gas in the same region, business prospects for the GSPC consortium have also increased. GSPC had recently bagged the Krishna-Godavari (KG basin) exploration block off the Andhra Pradesh coast in a joint venture partnership with GeoGlobal Resources (India) Inc, Canada and New Delhi-based Jubilant Enpro Limited.

The four wells drilled in the KG basin till now are claimed to have yielded about 20 TCF of gas.

Drilling in the fifth well is going on. The KG basin block was bagged under the third round of Central Government's New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

In the NELP's fourth round, the GSPC also won two blocks in Gujarat and one in Cauvery basin, Tamil Nadu.

SYDNEY: Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), and Australia's Oilex NL led groups that won permits to explore for oil and gas in Timor Sea waters jointly administered by East Timor and Australia.

The authority received eight bids for the four permits on offer in its inaugural release of exploration acreage in the area, which lies to the north of Australia and south of East Timor. Santos Ltd and Duddell Resources Ltd failed to win permits.

The companies' "commitment to a robust exploration work programme will mark another era in the exploration of the Joint Petroleum Development Area, one which we hope will bring with it further oil and gas discoveries," Jose Lobato, executive director of the Timor Sea Designated Authority, said in the statement.

The Petronas group is committed to drilling three exploration wells in its permit within the first three years, and two further wells in subsequent years.

The Oilex group agreed to drill four wells in its permit in the first three years, plus two wells later, according to the bids received.

'The Timor Sea Designated Authority has announced the award of Block 103 located in the northern part of the Joint Petroleum Development Area to a group of four companies led by Oilex, subject to signing a production sharing contract,' an Oilex statement said Thursday.

All the consortium partners will hold 25 percent stake each in the exploration block located east of the Laminaria, Corallina, Kakatua, Kuda Tasi and Elang discovered oil and gas fields and north of the Bayu-Undan gas condensate field.

'This award completes another element of the company's stated strategy of acquiring high quality exploration acreage in countries around the Indian Ocean rim in joint venture with its Indian alliance members,' B.H. McCarthy, managing director of Oilex, said.

The Timor Sea Designated Authority had received eight bids for the four permits on offer in its inaugural release of exploration acreage in the area, which lies to the north of Australia and south of East Timor.

SEOUL, Oct 26, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- South Korea's state-run energy developer said Thursday that it will search for gas at the East Timor-Australia joint petroleum development area starting next month, South Korea news agency Yonhap reported Thursday.

The Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) said it has a 30 percent stake in the prospective gas block, while LG International and Samsung Corp. each holds 10 percent. The remainder is owned by Petronas Carigali, the operator of the block located between Timor-Leste and Australia.

KOGAS said that once initial tests are completed next year, exploratory drilling will begin in the first half of 2008.

Development of any natural gas and condensate found is expected to begin in 2009. The exact size of the gas the block may contain has not been announced.

South Korea has been pushing to develop new overseas gas and oil fields to reduce the country's dependence on foreign energy supplies. South Korea produces only very small quantities of oil and gas, but wants to raise its self sufficiency levels past 10 percent in the coming years from 4 percent at present.

Press Releases and Articles about TSDA 2006 Bidding Round

Contents and links:

AGREEMENT ON EXTENSION TO TIMOR SEA ARRANGEMENTS

STRONG BIDS FOR JPDA CONTRACTS AREAS

Timor Sea Designated Authority awards first contract under new PSC regime

JPDA Acreage Release 2006 - Award of Bids