According to the Portuguese news agency the deal was signed on Friday in Bali, Indonesia, with the Timorese delegation headed by former Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, and ConocoPhillips’ by its Australian West President, Chris Wilson.

Alfredo Pires, Timor-Leste’s proposed new Petroleum and Energy Minister, Francisco Monteiro Chief of the TIMOR GAP and James Rhee, a Perth businessman, were included in Timor-Leste’s delegation.

Two days after the signing the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported the deal was the “first step in a planned US$5 bullion gamble to create an onshore gas –processing industry.”

Earlier this year AFR reported that Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak had put aside US$5 bullion from Timor-Leste’s sovereign wealth Petroleum Fund for investment directly into the gas processing plant planned in Suai.

Source: With AFR and Lusa