Government to sign first CBM deals next month

The government will sign the country's first coal bed methane (CBM) production contracts next month,  Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Wednesday.

 

Purnomo declined to name the companies that will receive the contracts. "I don't know the names of the companies. But I have been informed that negotiations with them have been running smoothly," he said.

 

The government is talking with three or four companies who have applied for contracts to develop CBM in several regions of the country. "We will offer a better split as an incentive. A lower split will be awarded if the infrastructure is already in place," he said.

 

The government has identified several areas which are believed to hold CBM resources. The areas include South Sumatra, which is believed to have 183 TCF of CBM resources, Barito (101.6 TCF), Kutai  (80.4 TCF) and the central part of Sumatra (52.5 TCF). (Godang)