Peter Ker – The new Woodside Petroleum boss, Peter Coleman, will make a diplomatic mission to East Timor in a bid to revive hopes of building a major gas project in the waters between the tiny nation and Australia.

Mr Coleman's promise to meet the East Timorese Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, in the "not too distant future" came as Woodside revealed a first half-profit of $US828 million ($791.2 million).

The solid result was broadly in line with the expectations of most analysts, who were more focused on Mr Coleman's outlook for Woodside's suite of ambitious growth projects: the Pluto, Browse and Sunrise gas projects.

While some minor deadlines continue to slip, most analysts were relieved that Mr Coleman did not reveal further major delays to the Pluto LNG project, which in June was revealed to be a year behind schedule and $900 million over budget.

Mr Coleman said Woodside still did not have enough of its own gas to build the second stage of the Pluto project, but he said negotiations to source the required gas from neighbouring companies were "maturing" and were close to completion.

Woodside was expected to make a final investment decision on the second stage of Pluto this year and start ordering the "long lead items" this month.

Mr Coleman was unable to guarantee those timelines yesterday, but analysts at Goldman Sachs were not deterred, saying "we believe Pluto is a viable expansion opportunity and view the current share price as a compelling entry point for investors".

Mr Coleman said he still expected to take a final investment decision on the $35 billion Browse LNG project in mid-2012, despite conceding the schedule was "a challenging one".

The Sunrise gas project – which straddles Australia's territorial border with East Timor – is one of the most uncertain projects on Woodside's books, thanks to disagreement between the company and the East Timor government over how the gas should be processed.

East Timor wants a processing plant to be built on its shores to stimulate its economy and has been angered by Woodside's insistence on using a floating LNG plant.

Mr Coleman said he would travel to East Timor to better understand the nation's concerns and to try to uncover a "circuit breaker" to the impasse. However, he rejected suggestions he was about to cede ground over the floating option.

"It's too early for us to move away, or even have discussions around a different development concept for Sunrise," Mr Coleman said. "... we "We really do believe we have the right development concept."

Goldman Sachs said market sentiment towards Woodside's growth projects may improve after four months when a sceptical market savaged Woodside's share price by more than 40 per cent. Woodside shares close 44" higher last night at $37.76.