Exxon Mobil Corporation announced on March 15, 2006 that its subsidiaries Mobil Cepu Ltd. and Ampolex (Cepu) Pte. Ltd. have signed a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) with P.T. Pertamina EP Cepu, a subsidiary of P.T. Pertamina, for the Cepu Contract Area located in East and Central Java, Indonesia.

The signing of the JOA follows the execution of the Cepu Cooperation Contract in September of 2005 and enables the parties to begin the activities and make the investments required to develop the discovered resources and further explore the block during the thirty-year contract period. The JOA provides the basis for joint development of the block, which will be managed by the parties under a Joint Operating Committee. Pertamina and ExxonMobil each will provide management oversight, technology and manpower under the agreement.

Exxon Mobil look forward to working with Pertamina and the Government of Indonesia to bring this important new resource on production.

Ampolex (Cepu) Pte. Ltd. and Mobil Cepu Ltd. acquired their respective interests in the Cepu Contract Area in 1997 and 2000 with the approval of both Pertamina and the Government of Indonesia. In March 2001, Pertamina and ExxonMobil announced the Banyu Urip discovery on the Cepu Contract Area. Banyu Urip is estimated to contain more than 250 million barrels of oil. At peak production, the field is expected to produce up to 165,000 barrels of oil per day. The Area has potential for additional exploration and development opportunities.

Pertamina and ExxonMobil each hold a fifty-percent interest in the Contract, with the parties anticipating entry of a regional entity at the ten-percent level in the future. The ten percent will be provided equally by both parties.

Source : The Exxon Mobil