CBM Development Remains Sluggish After 6 Years

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After approximately six years of development, Indonesia's coal bed methane (CBM) production capacity is still very low at just 0.625 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd). This shows a very slow development progress since Indonesia has 54 existing CBM work area with potential resources amounting to 138.3 trillion cubic feet (tcf).

Johannes Widjonarko, acting chief of the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas), said there are 112 problems encountered by 54 CBM contractors. "The most common problems are rigs and production facilities, land acquisition, and licensing," he said at the Jakarta Convention Center yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Susilo Siswoutomo, said he had asked the ministry's research and development board to build their own CBM rigs. Susilo hopes that Indonesia will soon be able to produce CBM rigs domestically, in order to create jobs and accelerate CBM exploitation.

"I have asked them to build 20 rigs because there are 54 companies that will be drilling," he said.

As of March 2014, the SKK Migas noted that only 84 CBM wells have been drilled. The SKK Migas had estimated that CBM production will reach 9 mmscfd by 2015 and increased to 23.9 mmscfd in 2020.

Indonesia has an estimated CBM resource of 453 TCF, nearly three times of the national conventional natural gas potential.

BERNADETTE CHRISTINA MUNTHE