Timor Gap buys Osaka Gas stake in Greater Sunrise project

Woodside Energy

04/09/2026 05:34

SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - East Timor's national oil company, Timor Gap, said it had reached a binding agreement with Osaka Gas to acquire the Japanese firm's 10% participating interest in the Greater Sunrise gas project.
By consolidating participating interests in the Greater Sunrise project and increasing East Timor's overall participation, "we expect to fast-track pending work with a view to the selection of the Timor LNG development concept in the near future," Chief Executive Officer Rui Soares said in a statement dated Wednesday.
The acquisition is expected to help the project's joint venture partners reach a final investment decision and unlock the value of the Greater Sunrise resource for East Timor and other stakeholders, Soares added. 
Osaka Gas confirmed the deal and declined to comment on its value. 
The Greater Sunrise project, whose gas fields lie between East Timor and Australia, has been held up for years over a disagreement between Dili and operator Woodside Energy WDS.AX over where the gas should be piped to.     
Dili has long pressed for the gas to be sent to a new liquefied natural gas export plant in East Timor, and not to Darwin in northern Australia.
The Sunrise and Troubadour gas fields, together known as Greater Sunrise, hold around 5.1 trillion cubic feet of gas and about 226 million barrels of condensate. 
Following the acquisition of Osaka Gas' stake, Timor Gap now owns a 66.56% stake in the project while Woodside Energy holds 33.44%.
     

 (Reporting by Emily Chow in Singapore, additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo; Editing by Stephen Coates)
 ((emily.chow@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: emily.chow.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))