The Indonesian government said Monday the time-consuming negotiations with U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil over joint exploration in the Natuna gas block have met a deadlock.
"I have reported to the minister of energy and mineral resources (Purnomo Yusgiantoro) that the negotiations have failed to reach an agreement," Kardaya Warnika, who heads the government's negotiation team, told a press conference here.
Kardaya, also the chairman of the Oil and Gas Executive Body (BP Migas), said it is now up to the government whether or not the negotiations will continue.
"Both sides have failed to overcome some major hurdles," he said without elaborating.
According to the national Antara news agency, Purnomo has said earlier the government and Exxon could not reach agreement over the revenue split, tax and cost-sharing.
Jakarta terminated the Natuna D Alpha Block contract with Exxon in 2005 as there was no output after 20 years. Exxon previously owned a 76 percent stake in Natuna and state-run oil and gas firm Pertamina had the remaining 24 percent.
In early 2007, both sides resumed the negotiations to no avails.
The block is estimated to have gas reserves of 46 trillion cubic feet, but around 70 percent of that figure contains carbon dioxide.
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