The Indonesian government will seek to get a better split of production sharing in the upcoming negotiation with the U.S. giant oil and gas company ExxonMobil about a new contract of work to operate on the major offshore gas field Natuna off Indonesia's Borneo island, the vice president said Friday.

Talking to a press conference at the vice presidential office, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the government will discuss for receiving a share of production, which will be lucrative for the country.

But, he did not give a detail on the proportion that the government will propose.

"We have agreed to make a new term, especially about the production sharing," said Kalla referring to his meeting with the company's top officials during his visit to the United States recently.

On the old contract of work between the government and the company signed in 1985, the government only got zero percent of split of production sharing, while the ExxonMobil one hundred percent, Kalla reminded.

The vice president said that the government would discuss for obtaining a split that "is the most profitable for the republic," of Indonesia.

"We will begin with a new contract," he added.

Earlier, the Head of Indonesian oil and gas regulating body BP Migas Kardaya Warnika, quoted by the leading Kompas daily as saying that the negotiation will be carried out this month, and all of which are targeted to be concluded in January next year.

ExxonMobil has said it is ready for the negotiation after the government offered the company a top priority to refresh its contract of work, which was terminated last month, in the field containing around 222 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.

But, ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia vice president for planning, commercial and external relations Maman Budiman said that "the basic agreement allows Exxon to extend the contract, which expired in 2005, twice, each for a period of two years.

Indonesia ended the contract due to the company's failure to submit a plan for developing the block and selling the gas, which has a high ratio of carbon dioxide that make it to be difficult to extract to the regulator, Indonesian Mines and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said earlier.

Besides, the vice president has said that the company had not done much on the block since the contract was signed in 1985, while Indonesia needs to move on.

Source: Xinhua