Exxon Mobil, Indonesia's Pertamina sign join operation in Cepu block

U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. and Indonesia's state-run oil and gas firm PT Pertamina signed Wednesday a joint operation agreement on Cepu block whose reserves are estimated at 600 million barrels of oil.

The signing at a hotel here ended a four-year deadlock in the oil block over issues of who should become the operator.

Pertamina was represented by subsidiary PT Pertamina EP Cepu and Exxon Mobil by its local unit Exxon Mobil Oil Indonesia in the presence of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro and Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Sugiharto.

Pertamina has insisted on playing a leadership role in the 2 billion U.S. dollar Cepu block, located 600 km east of Jakarta within the areas of Central and East Java provinces.

A recent move by the government to replace members of Pertamina 's board of directors has made the company become more flexible and finally accepted an Exxon Mobil executive as a general manager in the block.

Cepu block is expected to begin operations in the next 31 months, with estimated peak production of 165,000 barrels per day.

Source: Xinhua