Pertamina to acquire Exxon?s overseas block

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) will partly acquire a stake owned by Exxon Mobil Corp. in an oil and gas block overseas as part of a deal between the two companies to jointly develop a massive gas reserves in the Natuna D Alpha block in Natuna sea.

"I can't reveal the name of the block yet," Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan said on Thursday.

Last week, Pertamina signed a HoA with US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Corp. to jointly operate Natuna D Alpha giant gas block in Natuna sea.

Pertamina spokesperson M. Harun said ExxonMobil would not be the only partner in the block. ?Talks with other (potential) partners are on going,? he said without giving detail.

Industry sources said that the other two potential partners may be French giant Total SA and Malaysia ?s Petronas.

The government has handed over the block to Pertamina after the contract owned by American oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Corp. expired. The block is believed to hold 47 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of recoverable natural gas but with high CO2 content.

Karen Agustiawan has earlier said that Pertamina is ready to farm out up to 60 percent interest in the giant block to partner(s) and did not rule out the possibility of selecting more than one partner. Karen said Pertamina and the partner(s) might form a Joint Operating Committee to co-operate the block. (godang)