EXCLUSIVE: Pertamina eyes stake in ExxonMobil's stakes in Makassar Straits

State oil and gas company Pertamina is eying some shares owned by American energy giant ExxonMobil in the oil and gas blocks in the Makassar Straits, controlled by American oil and gas company Unocal Corp., industry sources said.

Pertamina's president Baihaki Hakim neither denied nor confirmed the rumor.

"We are in the process of selection. We don't want to be greedy. Furthermore, we also know our (financial) capabilities," Baihaki told Petromindo.Com on Friday after a meeting with Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.

Earlier, Unocal said it had reached an agreement with ExxonMobil allowing the former to buy all the latter's shares in the Makassar Straits and Rapak Blocks. Both are located in the Makassar Straits, where Unocal had discovered a significant oil reserve in deepwater areas.

ExxonMobil has 50 percent shares in Makassar Straits and 40 percent in Rapak. The remaining shares belong to Unocal.

Unocal has asked for the government's approval for the planned acquisition.

Pertamina is aggressively seeking to expand its upstream business in anticipation of the free market era.

Pertamina took part in the bidding process for the oil and gas assets of Spanish-Argentinean firm Repsol-YPF in Indonesia.

Repsol-YPF plans to sell all its assets in Indonesia as part of its corporate strategy of focusing business in South America and North Africa.

Repsol-YPF has shares in seven blocks in the country, including 65 percent in the South East Sumatra block, which is the country's largest offshore oil block with the output of more than 127,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Baihaki earlier said Pertamina was only interested to buy 10 percent shares in South East Sumatra.

Baihaki said on Friday Pertamina was seeking to obtain the government's approval for the planned purchase of Repsol-YPF shares in the block. (Godang)