ExxonMobil still exploring gas in Cepu: Executive

US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Corp is still continuing to explore gas in its Cepu Technical Assistance Contract (TAC) area in East Java, while the company does not know yet the volumes of gas which may be discovered in that block, its senior executive said on Tuesday.

?We are still in the exploration phase. We don?t know yet how much it is there. We already found oil in Cepu and have announced it, but for gas we are still in the early stage,? Alan Routh, senior vice president for marketing of ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc, told reporters after the second-day conference on gas.

Earlier, Routh said Cepu?s gas reserve was in the commercial size although it would not be as big as its oil reserve.

ExxonMobil had discovered at least 250 million barrels of oil reserve in the Cepu TAC area. Crude production is expected to commence in 2003 and the peak production would be 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

Meanwhile, state oil and gas company Pertamina and ExxonMobil had been in talks over the former?s participation in Cepu TAC oilfield. Pertamina insisted on acquiring 35 percent working interest in Cepu while ExxonMobil was offering 15 percent. (Leo)