Woodside's proposed billion-dollar Greater Sunrise floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) platforms in the Timor Sea remain locked in a controversy as the East Timor government maintains its position that a processing plant be built inside the country instead of the planned gas hub.

However, an alleged proposal coming from Woodside has been whirling around, which states that the Greater Sunrise joint venture project is willing to earmark specific amounts of gas supplies from the LNG hub, passing through a reportedly soon-to-be-laid gas pipeline, into a planned LNG plant by the Dili at Beaco Beach.

That speculation, nevertheless, was hosed down by Woodside when its company spokeswoman clarified on Monday that the joint venture is adamant in providing sustainable benefits to the people of Timor-Leste.

In a statement, she also denied that a pipeline is in the works for East Timor as she stressed at the same time that "the floating LNG option maximises total petroleum revenue to Timor-Leste and Australia."

On the other hand, East Timor appears bent on convincing the Perth-based company that laying down a pipeline from its Greater Sunrise gas hub and into the country's proposed LNG plant is viable, which Dili said was backed by million dollar researches.

Yet Woodside has insisted that its choice of floating LNG platforms offer much commercial advantages vis-à-vis to pumping gas supplies into East Timor or an alternative processing plant in Darwin, Australia.

East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has earlier aired his readiness to sacrifice billion-dollar revenues from the Greater Sunrise venture if only to push forward his government's stance against corporate agenda of taking undue advantage of small nations' natural resources.

Also, Dili has maintained that floating LNG platforms could prove costlier as compared to its alternative proposal as the government demonstrated its resolve in pushing its agenda by allocating more than $US12 million to fund its Beaco Beach LNG plant and another $US36 million for the development of an oil corridor in East Timor's south coast.

East Timor said that its planned Beaco Beach LNG plant is slated to deliver up to 20 million tonnes of LNG each year once it becomes operational.

Still, even experts based in East Timor are under the impression that Woodside would not be swayed from its position despite indications that offshore LNG processing would cost more by at least $2 billion and would stand firm on the original deal forged in 2007, in which Canberra and Dili are set to equally split the revenues to be generated by the Greater Sunrise LNG field.