East Timor and Australia will sign a deal ending a long-running maritime boundary dispute.
It will also carve up the Greater Sunrise oil and gas reserve estimated to be worth upwards of $56 billion.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and East Timor leaders have travelled to New York for the treaty signing ceremony at the United Nations on Tuesday, US time.
The agreement establishes a maritime boundary in the Timor Sea for the first time.
Australia had sought a boundary along the continental shelf, but East Timor argued the border should lie halfway between the two countries – placing much of the oil and gas fields in its territory.
Development could be at least a decade away, with Woodside looking at the latter half of the next decade.
It could also be a while before the agreement is ratified.
East Timor’s President Francisco ‘Lu-Olo’ Guterres dissolved the country’s parliament in January to call fresh elections to end a domestic political stand-off.
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