Bukit Asam drills second well in Tanjung Enim CBM project

State-owned coal mining company PT Bukit Asam and its partners PT Pertamina Hulu Energy and Australian company Dart Energy have begun explorationa activities at the coal bed methane (CBM) project in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra.

Bukit Asam said that following sucessful completion of the first well drilling the company was currently drilling the second well of the CBM project which is located near the company?s coal mine in Tanjung Enim.

The company said that the third well would be drilled upon completion of the second well drilling. It hoped that the whole drilling activities would complete as scheduled so that the project could begin commercial operation in 2013.

The project is expected to produce 50 million standard cubic feet of CBM per day.

Bukit Asam also said that it had begun explorationa activities on the Sijunjung CBM mine in West Sumatra, which should be completed in 3 years.

The three companies have established a joint venture through their respective subsidiaries to develop the CBM project. PT BA Metane Eim holds a 27.5 percent stake in the joint venture, while PHE Metra Enim 27.5 percent and Dart Energy (Tanjung Enim) Pte Ltd the remaining 45 percent.

Based on a survey done by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Tanjung Enim mine holds 0.8 trillion cubic feet.of CBM gas reserves (godang)