Taur Matan Ruak, the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, has announced the Open Door Round of Timor-Leste, a public tendering procedure concerning the allocation of eighteen new blocks for petroleum activities. Seven of those blocks (blocks A to G) are located onshore, and eleven (blocks H to R) are located offshore, in the exclusive zone of Timor-Leste.

This announcement was made on a special session during the Timor-Leste Oil & Gas Summit in Dili Convention Center, on 3 October 2019. In this session, the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, several other governmental entities and the President of country’s petroleum and minerals regulatory authority, Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo e Minerais (ANPM), provided information on available blocks, the improved fiscal terms, round timings and conditions of the 1st onshore and the 2nd offshore Timor-Leste’s Licensing Round, open internationally to all companies to bid on.

Public tendering procedures will be launched and conducted by ANPM very shortly and should be concluded by the end of 2020.