JAKARTA, Jan 8 - U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) said on Thursday it has submitted a plan to develop the giant Natuna D-Alpha gas field, the latest move in a dispute with Indonesia over its right to participate in the project.
The Natuna D-Alpha block on Java island has around 222 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves.
About 46 tcf of these are thought to be commercially recoverable, accounting for roughly a quarter of Indonesia's total commercially recoverable gas reserves.
But Exxon Mobil and the Indonesian government have been locked in a dispute over the U.S. major's role in the project.
Indonesia has said that Exxon Mobil's contract giving it a 76 percent share has already expired, whereas the energy major has said that the contract is valid until January 9, 2009.
Maman Budiman, a senior vice president at Exxon Mobil Indonesia, told Reuters the firm had submitted a development plan to BPMIGAS, the energy watchdog, and to the director general of oil and gas at the energy ministry, at the end of December, 2008.
"We firmly believe that Natuna D-Alpha contract remains in force. Natuna is still feasible to be developed, commercially and technically," Budiman said.
He said that according to the contract, the submission of the development plan is the next step that must take place before the deadline on January 9.
Indonesia has said talks with Exxon Mobil, which has controlled the block since the 1990s, had stopped on the offshore gas project due to disagreements on how to split the gas output.
Other unresolved issues with Exxon Mobil on the block, which is about 1,100 kilometres (680 miles) north of Jakarta and 200 km east of the West Natuna fields that feed gas to Singapore, included the length of the U.S. firm's contract.
Indonesia's government has appointed state oil firm Pertamina as the operator of Natuna, but the state company does not have the capacity to develop the gas field alone, which is estimated to need $40 billion in investment.
Pertamina' upstream director Karen Agustiawan has said the company will keep a 40 percent stake in the Natuna D-Alpha gas project, while 60 percent will be shared among the partners.
Pertamina has named eight international oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron (CVX.N) and France's Total (TOTF.PA), as its potential partners to develop the giant Natuna D-Alpha gas field.
The Natuna D-Alpha block on Java island has around 222 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves.
About 46 tcf of these are thought to be commercially recoverable, accounting for roughly a quarter of Indonesia's total commercially recoverable gas reserves.
But Exxon Mobil and the Indonesian government have been locked in a dispute over the U.S. major's role in the project.
Indonesia has said that Exxon Mobil's contract giving it a 76 percent share has already expired, whereas the energy major has said that the contract is valid until January 9, 2009.
Maman Budiman, a senior vice president at Exxon Mobil Indonesia, told Reuters the firm had submitted a development plan to BPMIGAS, the energy watchdog, and to the director general of oil and gas at the energy ministry, at the end of December, 2008.
"We firmly believe that Natuna D-Alpha contract remains in force. Natuna is still feasible to be developed, commercially and technically," Budiman said.
He said that according to the contract, the submission of the development plan is the next step that must take place before the deadline on January 9.
Indonesia has said talks with Exxon Mobil, which has controlled the block since the 1990s, had stopped on the offshore gas project due to disagreements on how to split the gas output.
Other unresolved issues with Exxon Mobil on the block, which is about 1,100 kilometres (680 miles) north of Jakarta and 200 km east of the West Natuna fields that feed gas to Singapore, included the length of the U.S. firm's contract.
Indonesia's government has appointed state oil firm Pertamina as the operator of Natuna, but the state company does not have the capacity to develop the gas field alone, which is estimated to need $40 billion in investment.
Pertamina' upstream director Karen Agustiawan has said the company will keep a 40 percent stake in the Natuna D-Alpha gas project, while 60 percent will be shared among the partners.
Pertamina has named eight international oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron (CVX.N) and France's Total (TOTF.PA), as its potential partners to develop the giant Natuna D-Alpha gas field.
