Nawawi confirmed that the two companies are expected "to sign an agreement in the form of an MOU in January to explore and to develop Cepu block. After we sign an MOU then we will develop the field. It is important to reach a deal by the end of this year. If not then we will have to delay again as there will be an election next year."

Both companies have been at loggerheads over the site since 2001 and it took a direct order from Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri earlier this year to force Pertamina to seek better terms and conditions.

One of the main stumbling blocks to a quicker resolution to the problem has been ExxonMobil's estimation of its own spending on the Cepu oil block. To get around this, Nawawi announced that, "the officials of ExxonMobil and Pertamina have met recently [and] we have agreed to audit the spending by ExxonMobil." The US company claims that it has already invested around US$450 million on the block.

Both companies have stated a willingness to have a 50-50 revenue sharing joint venture and to share development costs. The block is currently under a technical assistance contract between Pertamina and ExxonMobil and this contract will not be extended once it expires in 2010.

Out of all the revenue generated from the block once commercial production begins, the Indonesian government stands to pocket 60% of the oil produced from the field. Pertamina and ExxonMobil will split the balance. There has been no commercial production thus far.