The treaty opens the way for the development of the Sunrise field, earmarked for liquefied natural gas, which could boost East Timor’s coffers by up to $13 billion over the field’s lifetime. In addition, the country will receive another $25 billion from Australia in return for putting talks on its maritime boundaries on hold for 50 years.

But the agreement has yet to be ratified by East Timor’s parliament because many politicians believe it concedes too much to Canberra.

Ramos Horta, who was sworn in on Monday at the replacement to disgraced former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, said its failure to ratify the treaty had harmed East Timor’s reputation.

But ratifying the treaty will not necessarily mean the Sunrise development will be fast-tracked.

Sunrise operator Woodside Petroleum is cautious on the question of whetehr Ramos Horta can persuade his parliament ot ratify the treaty, and in any case it has prioritised work at the North West Shelf, Pluto and its proposed Browse Basin hub over Sunrise.

However, other partners, in Sunrise, notably ConocoPhillips, want to see it developed sooner rather than later.

As no one partner holds a majority share in Sunrise, the direction its development will take is not certain.

But if it is to be developed sooner ratgher than later, it will be as a source for a new processing train at Darwin LNG.