EAST Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta says it would be more profitable to pipe the gas from the Greater Sunrise gas project to his country, rather than process it on the spot or send it to Darwin.
The venture partners developing the field, Woodside, ConocoPhillips, Shell and Oasaka Gas were considering three options, one of which is piping the gas to a new LNG plant in Darwin.
The other two options include building a floating processing plant at the field or piping the gas 150km to an LNG plant in East Timor. The last option has all but been ruled out.
The venture partners argue that East Timor lacks a skilled workforce, is still politically unstable and a deep underwater trench between Sunrise and the mainland would present major engineering problems.
A decision on the project is expected in late 2009.
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