AMERICAN COMPANY FILES COMPLAINT IN THE UNITED STATES OVER OWNERSHIP OF OIL AND GAS RESOURCES IN THE TIMOR SEA

摘要

Oceanic Exploration Company (a Colorado corporation) and Petrotimor Companhia de Petroleos SARL (a Portuguese corporation controlled by Oceanic) have filed a complaint in the District Court for the District of Columbia for what is described as the theft of one of the world's major hydrocarbon reserves lying off the southern coast of East Timor valued at over 50 billion US dollars. Similar complaints brought against the Commonwealth of Australia in the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in 2003 were dismissed as being non-justiciable and outside that court's jurisdiction. The first named group of multiple defendants in the present proceedings consists of companies of the ConocoPhillips group, which is headquartered in Texas. It is described as the largest contractor with the current Timor Sea Designated Authority and the previous Timor Gap Joint Authority. These are also named as defendants.