Australia, East Timor close to Timor Sea energy deal.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Text of report by Radio Australia on 9 November

[Newsreader] East Timor says a boundary deal with Australia over the oil and gas reserves of the Timor Sea should be completed by the end of the year. East Timor's foreign minister, Jose Ramos Horta, set the target after talks in Australia's capital, Canberra, this afternoon with the foreign minister, Alexander Downer.

Graeme Dobell reports that the proposed agreement will mean joint exploitation of the rich reserves of the Greater Sunrise field in the Timor Sea.

[Dobell] East Timor says the deal with Australia is more than 90 per cent agreed. The …