ConocoPhillips updates East Timor contracts for Bayu Undan gas

SYDNEY, Aug 31 (Reuters): Liquefied natural gas producer ConocoPhillips announced new production sharing contracts with East Timor for the ageing Bayu Undan gas field on Saturday, following the implementation of a new maritime border with Australia.

The gas condensate deposit in the Timor Sea, 250 km (155 miles) south of East Timor and 500 km (311 miles) north of Australia, now falls within the small Pacific nation's jurisdiction, after it ratified the Maritime Boundary Treaty recently.

"We look forward to the Bayu Undan project operating in Timor-Leste's maritime jurisdiction and continuing to develop together with Timor-Leste during Bayu Undan's final years," Chris Wilson, president of ConocoPhillips Australia-West, said in a statement.

Bayu Undan has been the impoverished nation's main source of revenue for more than a decade, paying more than $20 billion into the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund since 2004, ConocoPhillips said on its website. The field is projected to run out of gas around 2022.

Previously, Bayu Undan fell within the Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA), a boxed-off zone between the two nations that allowed the development of resources while protracted negotiations over a permanent boundary continued.