According to a report in The Australian newspaper, East Timor will receive $US1 million a year for at least five years for agreeing to sign a revenue sharing document.

In addition, the new nation will receive $US10 million a year from the Australian Government, over and above its share of revenues, once production from the Greater Sunrise reservoir begins.

Under the Timor Sea Treaty, East Timor is entitled to 90% of government revenues from projects that lie in the joint development area. However, the newly-independent nation is entitled to only 20.1% of the nearby giant Sunrise reservoirs.

The Australian also reported that documents it has obtained relating to the Sunrise deal indicates that backers of the project won a key concession quarantining revenue sharing arrangement for the developments from mooted changes to the maritime boundary between East Timor and Australia.