Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, has said Canberra and East Timor are on the verge of settling a long-running dispute over oil and gas.
A draft agreement has been reached after three days of talks in Dili.
Mr Downer said it guarantees the East Timorese a multi-billion dollar payout from development of reserves in the Timor Sea.
In return, Dili is expected to suspend talks on finalising a maritime boundary between the two countries.
The Dili talks mean that an end to this long-running dispute is within reach.
Australia has said details of a draft deal will be finalised before another meeting in Brisbane next month.
Mr Downer said there has been substantial agreement on all major issues, with just a few loose ends to be tied up.
He has insisted it is a good result for the East Timorese.
'No cheating'
Earlier this week, the foreign minister had denied his government was trying to cheat its poor northern neighbour out of a desperately-needed windfall.
Mr Downer said that under the agreements, East Timor would be eligible for payments of up to $4bn.
On top of that, it will also continue to receive 90% of revenues from a joint oil and gas development area in the Timor Sea.
In return, the government in Dili is expected to postpone sensitive negotiations with Australia on a shared maritime boundary which would have eventually determined who controlled lucrative oil and gas fields.
East Timor was adamant that the line had to be drawn in the middle of the 600km of sea that separates the two countries.
Australian officials, however, wanted to stick with the same frontier they agreed in 1972 with Indonesia, East Timor's former ruler before it gained independence in 2002.
TIMOR SEA RESOURCES
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