Exxon Mobil to stay in Indonesian despite Aceh violence

Exxon Mobil Corp will not pull out of Indonesia or scale back investments due to violence in Aceh province where eight of its workers were held hostage at the weekend, a senior official said in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

"We have a very strong commitment to Indonesia and a very good relationship with Indonesia and we will continue to look for opportunities to invest in Indonesia," Lance Johnson, vice president of Exxon Mobil Production Co for Southeast Asia/Australia told Reuters.

The employees of Exxon Mobil were released unharmed on Saturday after being held for six to seven hours by armed gunmen who had demanded a ransom of Rp 4 billion (about US$460 million).

Baihaki Hakim, the president of the state oil and gas company Pertamina said on Monday that the eight workers had been released but non ransom was paid.

In recent months, Exxon Mobil has faced rising violence in the restive province of Aceh and has evacuated most of its workers' dependents, leaving only critical staff at the site, industry sources said.

"We are optimistic that the current situation would be peacefully resolved, Johson said speaking at the sidelines of the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Malaysia's capital. " We are very concerned over the safety of our people and we are very pleased with the strong support we are getting from Pertamina," he said. (*)