In 1974 Burmah Oil (later to become Woodside Petroleum) discovered the Greater Sunrise
petroleum field straddling the Timor Gap. Australia subsequently commenced negotiations
with Indonesia in 1979 to negotiate a treaty that would enable the development of petroleum
resources. After 10 years of negotiation, the TGT was signed establishing a 61,000km Zone
of Co-operation (ZOC) in which any oil deposits that straddled the Timor Gap would be
unitised.