SEOUL : Timor Leste has signed a deal allowing South Korea to import natural gas from its Greater Sunrise gasfield by 2013, officials here said Tuesday.

The deal reached in Dili would also allow a South Korean consortium led by state-run Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) to seek out other gasfields in the country, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement.

The deal represents Timor Leste's first energy pact with a foreign country since it gained independence in 2002, the ministry said.

"We have yet to complete discussion on the annual amount of natural gas to be imported from East Timor (Timor Leste)," a ministry official told AFP.

He said the Greater Sunrise field is believed to hold enough gas to meet South Korea's energy needs for seven years.

The field is part of the Joint Petroleum Development Area, shared by Timor Leste and Australia.

South Korea is the world's largest importer of natural gas.

- AFP/ms