Aasgard Development plan approved by Norwegian Parliament.

FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 2, 1996--Mobil Corp. (NYSE: MOB) announced today that the Norwegian Parliament has approved the plan for development and operation of the Aasgard Unit development, including the large Smorbukk, Smorbukk South and the Midgard oil and gas deposits on the Halten Bank in the Norwegian Sea.

Total investment in the field including installation of new pipelines and upgrading of existing infrastructure is estimated at $7 billion, with Mobil's share just over $500 million. Estimated recoverable reserves in the Aasgard unit are about 2.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with Mobil's share just over 160 million barrels of oil equivalent.

First production of oil is planned for the fall of 1998, with first gas production two years later. The allocated sales of produced gas total over one billion cubic feet per day, which will be sold under long-term contracts. Liquid production will be about 200,000 barrels per day. Mobil's share of total production will reach about 30 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2001.

"Since Mobil holds interests in several other licenses in the Halten Bank areas, some of which have had promising discoveries, we regard the Aasgard development as a significant step toward developing this new hydrocarbon province and a good fit with Mobil's strategy to profitably grow reserves and production" said Paul J. Hoenmans, president, Exploration and Producing Division.

In the recent 15th Round, Mobil was awarded participation interests in four new licenses in the area, including one operatorship.

The technical challenges of the Aasgard project require active participation of all seven partners and the success so far is due to excellent cooperation within the partnership. Aasgard will become one of the world s most extensive subsea developments, consisting of 60 subsea production and injection wells with 145 miles of associated infield flow lines. Oil and condensate will be produced through a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ship with the capacity to store 900,000 barrels of oil, process over 200,000 barrels of oil a day and inject about 600 million cubic feet of gas daily into the reservoir to improve liquid recovery.

A semi-submersible has been selected for gas production which will make this the world's largest offshore gas handling facility on a non-fixed platform. Gas will be shipped through a 450-mile pipeline to the gas-processing facility at Karsto, north of Stavanger. From there, the gas will be transported to European markets via a pipeline network from Norway to Germany, the Netherlands and France.

Partners in the development of the Aasgard units are: Statoil, Norway s national oil company, operator with a 60.5% interest; Agip, 7.9%; Total, 7.65%; Mobil Exploration Norway Inc., 7.35%; Neste Petroleum, 7%; Saga Petroleum, 7%, and Norsk Hydro 2.6%.

Mobil has been an active operator offshore Norway since 1973. The company holds a 12.8% interest in the giant Statfjord field discovered in 1974 by Mobil. Mobil's share of the current production from Statfjord field is over 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. In addition to Statfjord, Mobil holds a 4.33% interest in the Oseberg field in the North Sea (current production approximately 20,000 barrels of oil per day, Mobil share) and a 20% interest in the new Njord development just south of the Aasgard Unit. Njord comes on stream in October 1997, and Mobil's share of the field's peak production will be approximately 13,000 barrels of oil per day.

CONTACT: Mobil Corp., Fairfax

Gail Campbell Woolley or Christopher Springham,

703/846 2500