Cepu Mobil teams up with NGOs to conduct community development

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Mobil Cepu limited (MCL), a unit of the U.S energy giant ExxonMobil, is cooperating with a number of local non-governmental organizations in community development projects near its oil concession area in Bojonegoro regency.

The NGOs include the Women Empowerment Agency (LP2M), the Garis Tepi public learning center, Baitul Qirath micro finance institution, and the Republika public health service.

LP2M, for example, received a revolving fund of Rp 100 million from Mobil Cepu in December last year to empower women in the regency.

LP2M's head of Business Division Yesi Kumalasari said last week a part of the funds had been channeled to 26 working groups consisting of local businesswomen from nine villages in regency.

Each group receives up to Rp 5 million in low interest loans, with a 12-month installment.

"Many of them are producing snacks and developing tailoring businesses," Yesi told reporters during a media visit Monday.

Yesi said the revolving fund had been able to help the small businesses and most of them had been able to repay their loans on time.

"With the loan interest, we have managed to increase the amount of the revolving fund from Rp 100 million to Rp 115 million," she said.

She said LP2M planned to ask for more revolving funds from MCL next year so that more women in the regency could use the money to expand their business.

Instead of funds, the learning center got 20 computers and language laboratory equipment for its English language courses in Semengko village.

ExxonMobil Media Relations Coordinator Nuraini Razak said she was happy with the progress of the community development projects carried out in cooperation with the NGOs.

"We hope the projects will improve living standards of the local residents," she said. "We prefer to give them fishing rods instead of fish."

However, she refused to elaborate on the total amount of budget allotted by the company to establish and maintain the programs.

Exxon and its partner Pertamina were awarded a 30-year contract -- until 2034 -- to develop the Cepu oil field which straddles the border between Central and East Java. The oil block has estimated reserves of about 600 million barrels of oil and 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas.

At its peak, the oil block produced up to 165,000 barrels per day, equivalent to some 20 percent of Indonesia's total production.

Upstream oil and gas regulator BP Migas has urged Exxon and Pertamina to speed up production from the US$2.6 billion oil block in 2008 instead of 2009 as initially planned. (dic)