IRVING, Texas (October 24, 1997) - Exxon Corporation announced today that its subsidiary, Esso Chad Exploration and Production Inc., is making available on the Internet environmental and other information on its proposed oil development project in southern Chad. The project also involves construction of a pipeline to the port of Kribi in neighboring Cameroon.

The project's website is at www.essochad.com.

The Chad/Cameroon Development Project is sponsored by a consortium consisting of subsidiaries of Exxon, Shell and Elf. If the project is approved, the consortium will finance 97% of the estimated $3 billion investment directly or through loans at market rates. The consortium will develop and produce approximately one billion barrels of reserves over the life of the project.

The governments of Chad and Cameroon plan to apply to the World Bank for loans totaling $115 million (3% of the project cost) to finance their equity investments in the companies which will own and operate the pipeline. To facilitate the loan application process, Chad today forwarded to the World Bank its Environmental Assessment or EA. The EA is designed to assess the environmental, social and economic effects of the proposed project. Additional information on the EA is available on the new website.

Initially the website will include:

• Information on the economies of Chad and Cameroon.

• A description of the project, including the planning and public consultation process.

• A summary of the Chad Environmental Assessment and related issues.

• News releases regarding the project.

Additional data, including a summary of the Cameroon Environmental Assessment and the Environmental Management Plan, will be added to the website in the coming weeks.

According to Dean Guttormson, President of Esso Chad, the website is designed to help ensure that people worldwide have access to information about the project. It will supplement extensive public consultation activities which have been underway in Chad, Cameroon, Europe and the U.S. since 1993 and which continue with the release of the Chad Environmental Assessment.