East Timor has talked with Chinese firms including state-owned Sinopec(600028.SS),about developing the stalled Greater Sunrise gas field,President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Wednesday,after disagreements with Australia over the shared field's future.

The field,whose revenues were estimated at$65 billion in 2018,is vital to the economy of the poor Southeast Asian country but has been stalled for decades due to disagreements with Australia,which shares the field,and operator Woodside Energy(WDS.AX),which is meant to spearhead the project's development.

A bitter dispute over a maritime boundary was resolved in 2018.Now the main hurdle is disagreement over whether to pipe the gas to a new liquefied natural gas(LNG)plant in East Timor or to an existing LNG hub in Darwin.

Ramos-Horta has previously suggested East Timor could bring in new partners like China if the deal is not made on their terms,raising concerns in Australia about growing Chinese power and influence in the pacific region.

Ramos-Horta told Reuters that East Timor had talked with a number of private and state-owned Chinese firms and that representatives of some of these had visited as part of a recent Chinese business delegation.

Asked whether Sinopec was among those companies,Ramos-Horta said"Sinopec has been in touch".

Sinopec,officially known as China Petroleum&Chemical Corp,did not immediately respond to a request for comment.