"We're currently looking at a stake of anywhere between 10% and 40%, either in one go or two parts," Northern Land Council chief executive Norman Fry said at the SEAAOC Conference in Darwin this week.

Funds for the purchase could come from territory and federal governments, while revenue would be used to assist Aboriginals and invest in the trans-Territory pipeline.

Negotiations between 64 Aboriginal communities, represented by the council, and Montreal-based Alcan will intensify with the imminent completion of a land-access agreement.

Australian Pipeline Trust leads a group selected earlier in March to build a proposed 940km pipeline from Woodside Petroleum’s offshore Blacktip field to Alcan's Gove site.

At the time, Alcan South Pacific director of projects and technology, David Sutherland, said in Aboriginal groups should own a maximum of 10% of the pipeline

Yesterday, Australian Pipeline Trust chief executive Mick McCormack said that while there was no question traditional owners would be offered some participation, it depended on confirmation of the project, expected this month.