ExxonMobil Turned Down

US oil company ExxonMobil's three-year negotiation with Indonesian state oil company Pertamina for a contract extension has collapsed.
Widya Purnama, president of Pertamina, said his company was considering seeking a new partner to develop the Cepu field in Java, so they decided to reject a bid by ExxonMobil to extend a contract due to expire in 2010.
Exxon Mobil initiated a preliminary agreement with Pertamina's former management in June, in which it would have paid $125 million to the cash-strapped state oil company in return for a 20-year extension, the Financial Times reported.
Under that deal, ExxonMobil would have invested the $2.6 billion needed to develop Cepu.
Pertamina surprised the U.S. energy group by rejecting that agreement..
ExxonMobil has invested more than $450 million in Cepu, where work was suspended in January 2002, pending the extension, the Financial Times reported.