An East Timor delegation met with the Australian government on Monday and agreed to continue talks in Darwin next week in order to seek a creative solution to the issue.
The Timor Sea's oil and gas reserves are estimated to be worth $42.74 billion and all three major oil and gas fields, Sunrise, Bayu Undan and Laminaria, are closer to East Timor than they are to Australia.
Under an interim deal, East Timor will get 90% of government revenue from the joint petroleum development area which includes the Sunrise project, while under the international unitisation agreement only 20% of the Sunrise field lies in the joint zone, with the remaining 80% given to Australia.
