Six years ago, the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia after 24 years of occupation. The ensuing mayhem gripped the world’s attention and prompted the intervention of UN peacekeepers. Now, three years after its formal independence from UN auspices in 2002, Timor-Leste, as the world’s newest nation is now called, is starting to reap the rewards of its offshore oil and gas reserves.
Revenues from two gas fields currently in production in the Timor Sea that lies between Timor-Leste and Australia contributed $244m in the budget year ending July 2005. But that is a drop in the ocean compared to the potential profits and downstream economic benefits that could eventually accrue to Timor-Leste, which ranks as Asia’s poorest country with a per-capita GDP of $366.
