Timor Gap

The Timor Gap is often used to refer to an area of ocean between Timor, Indonesia and Australia. In actuality, it refers to a gap in a seabed boundary line which Australia and Indonesia negotiated in 1972 -- the part of the line they could not define because, Portugal, the then-ruler of East Timor, declined to participate in the negotiations.

After 400 years of Portuguese colonization, 25 years of Indonesian military occupation, and 2-1/2 years of UN transitional government, East Timor finally gained independence in 2002. However, they have yet to establish maritime boundaries with their neighbouring countries, Indonesia and Australia ("The Timor Gap, Wonosobo and the Fate of Portuguese Timor", "Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society," vol.88, pt.1, June 2002, pp.75-103. Also at: http://www.nla.gov.au/pathways/jnls/austjnls/view/324.html (search APAFT)) [] ."The Timor Gap, Wonosobo and the Fate of Portuguese Timor", "Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society," vol.88, pt.1, June 2002, pp.75-103. Also at: http://www.nla.gov.au/pathways/jnls/austjnls/view/324.html (search APAFT)]

Negotiations determining the ownership of the tens of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas located on the seabed of the Timor Sea, including completing the undefined boundary known as the Timor Gap, have been underway between Australia and East Timor since 2002, but despite several interim agreements, permanent maritime boundaries are yet to be settled. Australia and international oil companies have been accused of pressuring East Timor to accept a petroleum revenue-sharing formula while deferring permanent boundary resolution and foregoing legal avenues.

On 20 February 2007, East Timor's parliament agreed to ratify the agreement with Australia over the management of oil and gas resources in the Greater Sunrise field in the Timor Sea. The Australian and East Timor governments formally exchanged notes in Dili on 23 February 2007 to bring into force the two treaties that provided the legal and fiscal framework for the development of the Greater Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea.

The notes covered the Sunrise international unitization agreement (IUA) and the Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) Treaty. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, using a power invoked only six times in its history, invoked a "national interest" exemption clause to fast-track ratification of the CMATS treaty through the Parliament without scrutiny by its Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. [Robert J. King, “Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea, the Timor Sea Treaty and the Timor Gap, 1972-2007”, submission to the Australian Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties’ Inquiry into the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea, March 2007. Downloadable at: www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6_7_february2007/subs/sub6.pdf] (Robert J. King, “Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea, the Timor Sea Treaty and the Timor Gap, 1972-2007”, submission to the Australian Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties’ Inquiry into the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea, March 2007. Downloadable at: www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/6_7_february2007/subs/sub6.pdf )

References

External links

* [http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/0706chaudhry.html Minding the Timor Gap] from Dollars & Sense
* [http://www.laohamutuk.org/Bulletin/2006/Apr/bulletinv7n1.html The CMATS Treaty] from La'o Hamutuk Bulletin, April 2006
* [http://www.laohamutuk.org/Oil/OilIndex.html Index to Articles about Timor-Leste's Oil and Gas] published by the East Timorese organization La'o Hamutuk.

ee also

*Timor Gap Treaty
*Timor Sea Treaty