Oil and East Timor's Independence
Nuno Canas Mendes e André Saramago (eds.), Dimensions of State-Building: Timor-Leste in Focus, ISCSP, Lisboa, 2011, pp. 111-137
26 Pages Posted: 7 Jun 2017 Last revised: 9 Jun 2017
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
This article deals with the relevance of oil to the emergence and sustainability of East-Timor as an independent state. It gives an overview of the impact that oil had in the independence process of East-Timor and, mainly, on how oil resources are regulated. Oil not only had a key role in the pre-independence period, but it is also crucial to the consolidation of the political and economical independence of East-Timor. The current regulatory framework is, moreover, a by-product of the pre-independence years, since the several agreements established with Australia over the Timor Sea can be better explained by realpolitik reasons than by legal arguments.
Keywords: East-Timor, Timor-Leste, Australia, Self-determination, Oil, Continental Shelf
JEL Classification: K10, K30
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation