Tuban refinery may use crude from ExxonMobil's Cepu fields

State oil and gas company Pertamina said it might use crude from the oil fields in Cepu, Central and East Java, owned by American energy giant ExxonMobil Corp, if it proceeds with its plan to build a 120,000-140,000 barrels per day refinery in the nearby area of Tuban, East Java.

Pertamina has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabian business group Hitech to build the refinery, where the former would assume minority interest.

Pertamina's upstream director Ariffi Nawawi said on Monday that the companies would decide whether to realize the project in six months, while the construction of the US$1.3 billion project would take four years.

If using crude from Cepu was not possible, the companies would feed the refinery with Arabian Light Crude, Ariffi added.

ExxonMobil earlier announced the discovery of more than 250 million barrels of oil.

The company estimated production in Cepu to peak at 100,000 bpd in 2004. (alex)