Govt to offer shale gas blocks for joint studies

The government will soon open a number of shale gas blocks mostly located in eastern Indonesia for joint studies, an initial step before offering them for exploration, Bisnis Indonesia reported.

Eddy Hermanto, the director for oil and gas exploration at the directorate general of oil and gas at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said in Jakarta on Thursday that the shale gas which is found in shale formations is another form of unconventional gas in Indonesia in addition to the coal bed methane (CBM).

According to an initial study conducted by the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the shale gas reserves in the country could reach 1,000 trillion cubic feet (TCF), he said.

In order to know the details of the shale gas reserves, the government will invite investors to conduct joint studies on some of the existing shale gas reserves in the country, he added.

?This month we will open a joint study for onshore shale gas blocks,? he said.

At present, shale gas has been developed in the United States, Canada and several other European countries as one of the main gas sources to meet their gas demand. (*)