Ephindo to drill fifth CBM well in Sangatta

Coal bed methane (CBM) exploration firm Ephindo CBM Holding Inc. plans to drill a fifth well at its concession in Sangatta, East Kalimantan, by the end of next month to test production.

The firm has drilled three exploration wells at the concession and is completing the drilling of the fourth well.

The fifth well is billed by the firm as the country?s first ?pilot production test? well for CBM.

?The drilling of the first to fourth wells aimed at retrieving coal samples, while the fifth well aims at simulating (CBM) gas production. The depth of the fifth well will be similar to those of other wells, that is between 600 and 1,000 meters,? company president director Sammy Hamzah said on Tuesday.

He said the company might use the gas for a mini power plant that it plans to build by itself. The power plant, which will have an estimated capacity of 2 to 5 Megawatt (MW), which is enough to meet the power demand of the city of Sangatta.

?We are now in talks with (state owned electricity firm) PLN,? he said.

He said the firm would participate in the next tender of CBM concession which the government has scheduled for May this year.

?Our target is to add three more concessions,? he said. (bernard)