InterOil Corp, the liquefied natural gas producer together with its joint venture, is now in exclusive negotiations with Exxon Mobil Corp in order to develop gas fields located in Papua New Guinea. The negotiations is said to include the purchase of an interest in a petroleum retention license 15. 

The ExxonMobile Papua New Guinea Ltd is said to be spearheading the deal, according InterOil. InterOil's partner, Pacific LNG, would seek funding to drill additional wells located in the Elk and Antelope fields, which is one of the inclusions in the license to be purchased.

Last July, Royal Dutch Shell announced it was into discussion to purchase part of InterOil's Papua New Guinea licenses as well as an LNG terminal.

Currently, InterOil holds licenses that cover 3.9 million acres located in Papua New Guinea as the company is also constructing a US$6 billion LNG terminal that has an annual capacity of about 9 million metric tons. 

On the financial side, InterOil shares had closed at US$93.47 while Exxon had closed at US$91.79 on the New York Stock Exchange last Thursday.