Risky pipedreams for East Timor

Asia’s youngest and on several measures poorest country, East Timor has ambitious new plans to establish itself as the region’s next big energy exporter. Industry analysts estimate the untapped off-shore Greater Sunrise gas field holds over 8.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of light crude oil. Though most of the field lies in disputed waters, a full one-fifth of the field is open for drilling by East Timor and Australia in a so-called Joint Development Area.

How those energy resources are converted into revenues and applied towards development will likely make or break the island nation’s economic and perhaps political future.
In a report released earlier this year entitled “Sunrise LNG in Timor-Leste: Dreams, Realities and Challenges” the NGO [Lao Hamutuk, a local nongovernmental organization that has studied Timor’s petroleum management since before the country achieved independence, ] argues that “after the construction period, the benefits of the LNG facility will be small”. Charles Scheiner, one of the report’s authors, said separately that the plant would likely be in operation for 30 to 40 years, which would be enough time for Timorese to acquire the skills necessary to manage the plant. But he was quick to point out that that would depend on the government’s ability to quickly develop a skilled workforce.

Pires [East Timor’s secretary of state for natural resources,] said his ministry is already spending “millions of dollars” to educate local Timorese in relevant industry skills, including plans to send 120 students abroad this year to study engineering and geology. In addition, the government plans to build and within five years open a polytechnic facility focused on developing energy industry skills among the local population.

That’s a particularly ambitious scheme, critics say, given that most people in the area haven’t completed even a high school education.

Asia Times