Esso Norge Begins Oil Production From the Balder Field

Irving, Texas (PROTEXT) - Exxon Corporation (NYSE: XON) announced today that its affiliate Esso Norge AS (ENAS) has begun oil production at the Balder field (ENAS interest 100 percent) in block 25/11 - PL001, located 115 miles west of Stavanger in the Norwegian North Sea. The field is expected to reach a peak of approximately 100,000 barrels a day from an estimated 170 million barrels of recoverable oil. The Balder field has been developed through 14 subsea wells, including 10 producers. The wells are tied back to the Balder Floating Production and Storage Unit (FPU) with a storage capacity of 380,000 barrels of oil. The crude oil is offloaded via shuttle tankers transporting the oil to the markets. Over the last several years ENAS has identified additional hydrocarbon resources in the Utsira High area close to the Balder field through an extensive exploration and drilling program. The company has undertaken studies to assess the possibility of further developments in the Balder area utilizing the Balder facilities. ots Original Text Service: Exxon Corporation Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Ed Burwell of Exxon Corporation, (USA) 972-444-1108 Web site: http://www.exxon.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT