Shell sells $420m Timor stake

Shell has sold its interest in the Greater Sunrise offshore fields to Timor Gap, the national oil company of Timor-Leste, for US$300 million ($420 million).

The sale of Shell’s 26.56 per cent stake in the project, located approximately 150 kilometers south-east of Timor-Leste, means the Timor-Leste government is now the majority owner of the Woodside Petroleum-operated project.

Yesterday, ConocoPhillips finalised the sale of its 30 percent interest in Greater Sunrise to the government for $350 million ($490 million).

Osaka Gas owns a 10 per cent stake, and Woodside owns the remaining 33.44 per cent.

Shell Australia chairwoman Zoe Yujnovich said the transfer of ownership marked a new chapter for the government of Timor-Leste in its development aspirations of the Greater Sunrise fields.

“We understand the importance of this resource to the Timor-Leste nation and respect the government’s determination to pursue an alternative path to development through an onshore facility,” she said.