Singapore – East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Friday his compatriots who met the new Woodside CEO Peter Coleman were "positively impressed by him" and expressed hope that the two sides will be able to find a solution to develop a large gas project in the country.

"I believe they can agree on a solution though what it is, I don't know," Ramos-Horta said at a lunch talk organised by Singapore's Foreign Correspondents Association. "The mood is positive."

Woodside new chief executive, Coleman, has signalled a more conciliatory approach on the development of the Greater Sunrise gas field project, saying he wanted to restart a dialogue with East Timor.

The development of the project has been delayed due to a bitter dispute between the East Timor government and Australia's Woodside on the location of a liquefied natural gas plant(LNG).

Woodside, which heads a consortium of firms developing the gas field, wanted a floating LNG plant, while East Timor demanded that the plant be built on its shores to create jobs in the impoverished country.