Woodside today refused to confirm or deny Timor Leste's Prime Minister's office had made an 11th hour bid to invite Woodside back to Dili to resuscitate the seabed boundary and gas royalty dispute.

Woodside allegedly told Timor Leste it would not be going back to Dili and if it wanted to resume discussions it would have to be in Perth. Days later Woodside made public its decision to halt all project expenditure.

A Woodside spokesman told EnergyReview.net this morning it wouldn't entertain public discoussion on the matter.

"We won't publicly discuss negotiations," he said.

So far, the two nations have failed to reach agreement on how to divide the estimated $41 billion worth of hydrocarbon deposits under the seabed between Australia and Timor.

Timor-Leste started talks last April with Australia in a bid to extend its boundaries to a mid-point between the two countries, which would have put all of ConocoPhillips's Bayu-Undan gas field, the Sunrise, Laminaria, Corallina and Buffalo fields under Timorese sovereignty.

The talks broke down in December, but Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) yesterday confirmed Australian officials had invited Timor-Leste to a further round of negotiations in Australia.