East Timor Oil Fund Surpasses Oman’s, Bahrain’s
East Timor’s sovereign wealth fund, the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund, in June 2013 reached a value of $13.6 billion, surpassing funds of oil-rich Gulf states such as Oman’s State General Reserve Fund ($8.2 billion) and Bahrain’s Mumtakalat Holding ($7.1 billion) and even Russia’s Russian Direct Investment Fund ($13 billion).
The oil wealth of the tiny Southeast Asian nation rose $796 million against the first quarter 2013 on gross capital inflows into the fund from royalties and taxes, according to figures published by the East Timor Central Bank..
The fund was established in 2005, three years after the country became independent from Indonesia. The government, represented by the Minister of Finance, is responsible for the overall management and investment strategy of the petroleum fund which had returns between 4 and 5 per cent annually over the past years.
The inflows into the fund mainly stem from the Bayu-Undan oil field that lies in the Timor Sea, 500 kilometers offshore of Darwin, Australia, and 250 kilometers south of East Timor. The field is operated by a consortium led by ConocoPhillips.
The country’s petroleum fund pays for nearly all of the government’s annual budget. After petroleum, the second largest export is coffee, which generates just about $10 million a year. Critics say that little of the fund’s wealth has gone to develop the country and its impoverished population which still relies mainly on subsistence farming.
East Timor’s sovereign wealth fund, the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund, in June 2013 reached a value of $13.6 billion, surpassing funds of oil-rich Gulf states such as Oman's State General Reserve Fund ($8.2 billion) and Bahrain's Mumtakalat Holding ($7.1 billion) and even Russia's Russian Direct Investment Fund ($13 billion). The oil wealth of the tiny Southeast Asian nation rose $796 million against the first quarter 2013 on gross capital inflows into the fund from royalties and taxes, according to figures published by the East Timor Central Bank.. The fund was established in 2005, three years after the country became independent from...
East Timor’s sovereign wealth fund, the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund, in June 2013 reached a value of $13.6 billion, surpassing funds of oil-rich Gulf states such as Oman’s State General Reserve Fund ($8.2 billion) and Bahrain’s Mumtakalat Holding ($7.1 billion) and even Russia’s Russian Direct Investment Fund ($13 billion).
The oil wealth of the tiny Southeast Asian nation rose $796 million against the first quarter 2013 on gross capital inflows into the fund from royalties and taxes, according to figures published by the East Timor Central Bank..
The fund was established in 2005, three years after the country became independent from Indonesia. The government, represented by the Minister of Finance, is responsible for the overall management and investment strategy of the petroleum fund which had returns between 4 and 5 per cent annually over the past years.
The inflows into the fund mainly stem from the Bayu-Undan oil field that lies in the Timor Sea, 500 kilometers offshore of Darwin, Australia, and 250 kilometers south of East Timor. The field is operated by a consortium led by ConocoPhillips.
The country’s petroleum fund pays for nearly all of the government’s annual budget. After petroleum, the second largest export is coffee, which generates just about $10 million a year. Critics say that little of the fund’s wealth has gone to develop the country and its impoverished population which still relies mainly on subsistence farming.
