Global Policy Forum

Timor-Leste is highly dependent on its oil revenues. In 2005, the country established a petroleum fund in order to avoid the “resource curse,” widespread corruption and inflation. But recently Timor-Leste has passed a law allowing higher-risk investments, thus changing the fund. Some experts fear that this bill will lead to higher financial risks and corruption while others argue that it will contribute to the development of the country. (Guardian)

In 2009, Myanmar concluded a lucrative deal with South Korea and China, which allowed the construction of cross-country oil and gas pipelines. This project has led to more than $10 billion in investment into Myanmar but without improving the living conditions of the population. The Burmese government is dispossessing people of their land. These pipelines run through the Shan state in the northern part of Myanmar, a war zone where the Burmese army has committed serious human rights abuses. (Corp Watch)

Bangladesh, Burma and India all lay claim to potentially lucrative oil and gas fields in the Bay of Bengal.  The maritime dispute between the countries is a source of increasing tension. Bangladesh has asked the United Nations to mediate, and Burma has approached the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a technical body, to investigate. In the mean time, oil companies persist in their exploration projects. The strain caused by the dispute is not confined to maritime law - it impacts regional politics also - in particular the status of refugees along the Bangladesh/Burma border. (ISN Security Watch)

In this in-depth report, EarthRights International uncovers how the Yadana pipeline project operated by Chevron and Total in Burma has been responsible for keeping the Burmese military regime financially solvent. The multi-billion dollar profits generated by the project are deposited in bank accounts abroad, enabling the junta to ignore international pressure and deny democratic demands from the Burmese people. This report establishes a direct link between the regimes' gas revenues and its authoritarian behavior.

Foreign companies' investment in Burma's oil and gas is coming under international scrutiny following the junta's decision to further detain opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. French energy company Total faces accusations of using Burmese villagers as forced labor to build a pipeline transporting gas from Burma to Thailand. An upcoming report by EarthRights International suggests that the Burmese regime is earning hundred of millions of dollars from the project. (The Independent)

In spite of the US$3 billion that East Timor accumulated from its oil and gas incomes, the country suffers from an unstable economy, corruption and a lack of transparency. The government does not adequately invest the natural resource revenues in education or infrastructure but subsidizes rice and fuel prices instead, leaving its citizens poor. (BBC)

Independent East Timor still suffers from malnutrition and food shortage. Meanwhile, the government keeps US$1.2 billion from oil revenues in a US fund for "future use". The unused money became a priority issue in the elections. President Jose Ramos-Horta stated "Democracy will not work if the people are hungry." (New York Times)

Tensions remain high between Australia and East Timor over control of their sea border, which dictates how the two will divide oil and natural gas profits. East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta calls for a non-binding hearing from the International Court of Justice on the matter, but Canberra has thus far refused. Observers say Australia signed agreements benefiting East Timor just long enough for international attention to recede, and now seeks to exploit its poorer neighbor's natural resources riches. (Inter Press Service)

Le Monde Diplomatique details the long-standing dispute over maritime frontiers between Australia and East-Timor and exposes an intricate web of state and corporate oil interests in the boundary negotiations. Following East Timor's independence in 2002, the United Nations Transitional Administration renegotiated the maritime boundaries fixed under Indonesian occupation. Oil companies pressured East Timor to strike an agreement, as Australia threatened to withdraw aid to the UN-administered area if it did not receive a large share of royalties.

Australia refuses to defer to international law in resolving the sea border dispute with East Timor, claiming it is "exceedingly generous" in giving Dili a huge share of the oil and natural gas resources in the joint development area. Deploring the Australian government's stance, Senator Bob Brown accuses the government of "behaving like a wealthy neighbour that has jumped the fence and pinched vegetables from the garden of the poor family next door." (Independent)

East Timorese President, Xanana Gusmao, warns that his country might become another failed state like Haiti if Australia goes ahead with the plan to exploit the oil and gas resources in the disputed Timor Sea reserves. Gusmao stresses that the potential revenue would be crucial to curb poverty, reduce disease and strengthen the democratic process in the country. (Guardian)

The Catholic Commission for Justice, Development and Peace has accused the Australian government of unfairly seizing the Timor Sea oil revenue to the detriment of East Timor. By refusing to defer to the International Court of Justice for a resolution and deliberately prolonging the boundary talks, Australia has not negotiated in good faith, argues the Commission. (Sydney Morning Herald)

An international NGO has questioned the Australian Government's motives for prolonged negotiations concerning its maritime boundary with East Timor, and has called for Australian recognition of East Timorese resource rights. The NGO claims Australian exploitation has already "mostly depleted" the abundant oil and natural gas which deposits in the disputed Laminaria-Corallina field. (East Timor Action Network/US)

After significantly backing East Timor's struggle for independence, Australia now constitutes the main barrier to Timorese hopes of breaking free from poverty. Australia refuses to adhere to principles of international law, knowing that it would return huge underwater reserves of natural gas to East Timor. (Guardian)

BP is preparing to build a large liquid natural gas processing plant on West Papua. Given that the island is torn between a corrupt, brutal military with its hands in the illegal resources trade and a growing independence movement, this article argues that BP's plant could worsen an already volatile political situation. (The Ecologist)

The Bush administration, invoking the war against terrorism, is inappropriately protecting Exxon Mobil, a US company, which did nothing to stop murder, torture and other crimes by security forces guarding its gas fields in Indonesia. (New York Times)

Human rights lawyers have filed a lawsuit against Unocal, accusing the company of hiring Burmese troops who committed human rights abuses while building a pipeline for the company. The suit "may have a chilling effect on how multinationals operate overseas." (Corporate Legal Times)

Prime Minister Megawati of Indonesia has signed into law a provision granting Aceh an unprecedented level of financial and political autonomy. The ongoing conflict, motivated in part by the desire to control the province's oil resources, has claimed more than 1,000 lives this year. (BBC News)

East Timor has reached an agreement with Australia on oil and gas rights in the Timor Sea. The deal represents a huge boost for the impoverished former Indonesian province as it prepares for its first post-independence elections next month. (Independent)

The Washington-based International Labour Rights Fund (ILRF) sued Exxon Mobil Corporation on charges that Exxon paid and directed the Indonesian government forces who committed atrocities while guarding the oil company's facilities in Aceh, Indonesia. (One World)

Australia and the UNTAET are struggling to find a new agreement on revenue-sharing rules covering the rich oil and gas area in the Timor Sea. This zone was jointly managed by Australia and Indonesia while ruling East Timor. (International Herald Tribune)

By providing the Indonesian government with the incentive and the justification for heightening its military presence in the province, oil and natural gas in Aceh have helped to fuel the ongoing separatist conflict. (Christian Science Monitor)

Dependence on natural resources can severely harm a country both politically and economically, as demonstrated in Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Venezuela, and even send it spiralling into conflict. With East Timor about to enter the oil market, can it avoid this grim path? (FEER)

This report by Project Underground describes China's ongoing attempts to colonize its western provinces. The new wave of resource extraction will aid the Chinese government's population transfer policy, heighten the marginalization of Tibetans in their own country, increase militarization in an already volatile area, and promote environmental degradation.