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The recent meeting between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Timor-Leste counterpart, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, highlighted the strength of the resource sector relationship between the nations.
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The leaders highlighted the importance of the giant Greater Sunrise gas field to both nations in a joint declaration made during the Australian PM’s visit to Dili. There, Prime Minister Albanese confirmed that Australia will be supporting any commercially viable solution to develop Greater Sunrise consistent within the Maritime Boundary Treaty between the two nations.
Albo also acknowledged Timor-Leste’s commitment to onshore processing and to its south coast Tasi Mane project during the same recent visit.
February’s joint declaration also included a major commitment from Australia to establish an infrastructure fund to be used in Timor-Leste and allocate to it a fixed 10% share of total states’ upstream revenue from the Greater Sunrise project, which will be funded entirely from Australia’s share of future revenue.
However − it is not only world-class developments like Greater Sunrise that are cementing a close relationship with one of Australia’s closest neighbours.
On the mining side, junior Estrella Resources (ASX:ESR) is making strong progress in opening up a significant high-grade manganese operation in the country. A recent pioneer in Timor-Leste’s push for mining developments, Estrela has made a significant discovery at the Ira Miri project.
The Australian-based, Timor-Leste-focused company is currently ramping up marketing of the high-grade manganese, aiming to produce samples of up to 30,000 tonnes to send to potential international buyers.
“The manganese market sample of up to 30,000 tonnes is significant not just in terms of project development but also for the country of Timor-Leste, representing the first minerals export following the adoption of the new mining code,” said Estrella’s managing director, Chris Daws, just recently.
“Our development activities have been heavily supported by the Timorese government, our local contractor workforce, and nearby community groups. With such strong partnerships, we’re thrilled to be delivering on our aggressive program of works.”
Another Oz mining junior that has been welcomed by the Timor-Leste government is Tivan (ASX:TVN). PM Gusmao formally awarded Tivan seven contiguous exploration and evaluation licences, which make up the Turiscai project.
In November CY25, Tivan also executed a binding term sheet to acquire a further six EELs comprising the Baucau and Ossu projects.
On the petrol front, Finder Energy (ASX:FDR) is fast-tracking the Kuda Tasi and Jahal offshore oil project. Finder achieved a range of milestones at KJT through last year and has several key activities now approaching in 1HCY26.
Earlier this month, Finder revealed it had identified an opportunity to reduce holding costs during the engineering phase of the project by relocating the Petrojarl I floating production, storage and offloading vessel.
The FPSO is a key component of the ongoing KJT development, and its relocation was Finder’s first large-scale infrastructure operation for the project.
The PJI is now berthed and will remain in lay-up until a KJT final investment decision (FID), which is scheduled for mid-year, with front-end engineering design (FEED) and life extension works (LEXT) planning activities being finalised.
The Kuda Tasi and Jahal oil fields are estimated to contain a combined 25 million barrels and will provide initial production rates of 25,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil per day.
With these developments underway and growing interest from other Oz companies, the relationship between the neighbouring nations is looking very positive.
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