The power of collaboration can never be underestimated, especially so in the energy domain. Consequently, since originally conceived in early 2024, it was fulfilling for SPE Western Australia (SPE WA) and Australian Energy Producers (AEP) to combine strengths to deliver our Q3 meeting in Dili, Timor-Leste, in late August 2025.
This featured one of AEP’s flagship seminars, "An Introduction to Oil & Gas," delivered by renowned geoscientist Dr. Peter Moore at UNTL’s Hera engineering campus. In addition to being recognized as a national geoscience champion by the Australian Geoscience Council, Dr. Moore is currently a non-executive director of Beach Energy and an adjunct professor at Curtin University. José Ferreira, senior petroleum engineer at Santos Ltd., officially welcomed Dr. Moore with the presentation of a traditional Timorese Tais (hand-woven scarf).
AEP was formerly known as Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA), the national body representing the collective interest of the upstream oil and gas exploration and production industry. The last occasion that our two organizations cooperated was the 2012 SPE/APPEA International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production in Perth.
APPEA’s name was changed to AEP in September 2023 to better reflect the evolving energy industry and its growing role in developing cleaner technologies like hydrogen. AEP has roughly 200 member organizations, comprising oil and gas explorers and producers active in Australia as well as companies providing goods and services to those explorers and producers. The organization advocates for members, communicates with governments, and works to contribute to Australia’s economic growth, energy security, and a net-zero future by 2050. AEP member companies produce around 95% of Australia’s oil and gas.
In recent years, helmed by chair Meg O’Neill, CEO and managing director of Woodside Energy, and AEP CEO Samantha McCulloch, the strong advances by AEP in enlightening not only the general population, but also politicians, have been critical. This has included a series of well-crafted initiatives and prominent promotional campaigns to provide transparent explanations and positive insights of our industry’s noteworthy operational accomplishments, as well as the industry’s essential deliverables to power the nation henceforth.
For example, Australian natural gas is pivotal to the energy system transformation in Australia and the region, providing the firm dispatchable energy required to unlock our renewable energy potential and powering Australian industries including those processing the critical minerals crucial to attain net zero. The oil and gas sector plays a fundamental role in Australia’s economy, providing essential energy to power businesses and homes nationally and across the world. Our sector invests billions of dollars to generate reliable, secure, and cleaner energy, creating jobs and economic growth for Australian communities.
SPE WA’s quarterly meetings in Dili typically feature an international speaker and are primarily aimed at providing Timorese students with global industry knowledge and the latest technical insights.
On this occasion, an audience of over 400 comprised mainly undergraduates in petroleum engineering, petroleum management, and/or geology from four local universities: Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa'e (UNTL), Dili Institute of Technology (DIT), University of Dili (UNDIL), and Universidade Oriental Timor Lorosa'e (UNITAL). In addition, attendees included about 30 special guests from the Timor-Leste government, the diplomatic community, operators, and academia.
This 1-day seminar, which typically sells out in major cities across Australia, comprised eight sections, including an enhanced, relevant, module on LNG, which is pertinent with respect to the planned Greater Sunrise development, particularly bearing in mind recent encouraging high-level visits by executive and technical teams from Woodside Energy.
As a former executive vice president heading up global exploration for Woodside Energy, and a former non-executive director of Carnarvon Energy overseeing assets in the Timor Sea, Dr. Moore was well-positioned to also include a uniquely customized overview on all the Timor-Leste reservoirs. This was much appreciated by students, academics, and professionals alike.
At the conclusion of each section, Dr. Moore posed questions to the students and each correct answer was rewarded with a prize from both AEP (e.g., miniature USB-powered cooling fan) and SPE (e.g., micro-LED torch emblazoned with a Timor-Leste map).
Furthermore, eager students were invited up to the microphone to ask Dr. Moore questions with each receiving an AEP or SPE notebook and pen. As usual the entire audience enjoyed a traditional Timorese lunch of fried chicken, vegetables, local rice, tempeh (fried soya beans), and of course, extra-spicy sambal or chilli sauce. The afternoon session began with a couple of fun exercise games to get everyone energized for the final few sections. Proceedings were expertly led by two student emcees, Almerinda Fernandes from DIT and Gil Soares from UNTL.
In recognition of utilizing the UNTL Hera Auditorium at the faculty of engineering, science and technology on behalf of the SPE WA Board of Directors, I presented three glass plaques to key personnel, namely Adalfredo Ximenes da Silva Guterres, dean of UNTL FECT, Domingos de Sousa Freitas, vice dean of UNTL FECT (and SPE UNTL Student Chapter faculty advisor), and Raimundo Moreira, caretaker of UNTL FECT.
Beginning with an initial fact-finding mission in 2022, the auditorium has served SPE magnificently with a remarkable range of guest speakers that has included H.E. José Ramos-Horta, president of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Sr Dino Da Silva, president ANP, Sr Rui Soares, CEO Timor Gap, H.E. Victor Soares, Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Maun Cris Samson, principal advisor to the vice prime minister of Timor-Leste, Kamel Ben-Naceur, 2022 SPE President, Simon Seaton, SPE CEO and executive vice president, Terry Palisch, 2024 SPE President, numerous SPE Distinguished Lecturers, besides many other engineers, senior management, and executives including Dr. Moore.
The UNTL auditorium, situated on a plateau just over the ridge which encircles Dili, was completed in 2019 with a generous grant from the people of Japan as a token of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. It has been our home away from home, typically brimming with audiences of more than 500 students, many proudly wearing brightly colorful uniforms embroidered with their institution’s department. Thank you very much, or as they say locally, Obrigadu Barak!
On reflection, this seminar was another progressive step forward in our quest to enhance the knowledge of Timorese petroleum and geology students. SPE WA is extremely grateful to Julie Hood, general manager of member relations and events, and Sarah Hall, conference and event manager at AEP, as well as Dr. Peter Moore for ensuring that this jointly organized and funded event was a success.
The Australian oil and gas industry continues to face headwinds, partially due to energy illiteracy, which educational partnership and knowledge transfer initiatives can certainly contribute to offsetting. SPE WA is excited about further potential cooperation with AEP in the future, conceivably “Introduction to the Energy Transition,” another flagship seminar by Moore.
Finally, as always, we are eternally grateful to the 2025 SPE WA Timor-Leste sponsors for helping us achieve our mission and creating lifelong memories for these young Timorese undergraduates.
