Cerro Negro Ships First Upgraded Crude.

Business Editors

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 23, 2001

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) announced today that the first shipment of upgraded crude oil produced at the newly-constructed, $790 million Cerro Negro Upgrader Complex in eastern Venezuela left port earlier this month for the Chalmette Refinery in Louisiana on the United States' Gulf coast.

A mixed shipment of upgraded and diluted crude oils was loaded in the SS Aegean Legend, which sailed from the Jose Industrial Condominium in Anzoategui State on August 7. The upgraded crude oil is the first produced by Cerro Negro since the start-up of its upgrader complex at the end of July.

"This project demonstrates ExxonMobil's major investment commitment in Venezuela," said Mark Ward, president of Operadora Cerro Negro S.A., and ExxonMobil country manager for Venezuela. "It is also an excellent example of the application of production and refining technology to create higher-value products for export to the United States and Europe."

The 8.5-degree API extra-heavy crude oil produced at the Cerro Negro field is diluted with naptha and transported by pipeline 190 miles to the port of Jose, where the upgrader complex converts the mixture into a 16-degree API crude oil. The upgrader's installed processing capacity is 120,000 barrels per day of heavy crude, which it converts to 108,000 barrels per day of upgraded crude, and additional by-products such as sulfur and coke.

Cerro Negro is a strategic association formed by the state oil company of Venezuela, PDVSA (42 percent), ExxonMobil (42 percent) and Veba Oel of Germany (16 percent), to produce, upgrade and export heavy crude from the Orinoco Faja region for a period of 35 years. Operadora Cerro Negro S.A., an ExxonMobil subsidiary, operates the project on behalf of the partners.

Note to Editors: Photographs are available by contacting Bob Davis, ExxonMobil, at 713/656-7544.