Huge methane resource found in South Kalimantan

Aside from a coal resource of 4.5 billion tons, the South Kalimantan province has also a huge coal bed methane resource, which can be developed to generate up to 15,000 megawatt (MW) of power, a local governmental official said.

Armain Janit, a senior official at the province's development administration office, said on Thursday he had been informed about the province's coal bed methane resource by the president of ASEAN Central of Energy (ACE), who visited the province two weeks ago.

He however did not provide details on the agency.

"Thus, (with the coal bed methane resource) South Kalimantan is able to supply power to all parts of the country," Armain said.

He said the methane resource could be extracted through drilling and the gas could be sent to Java, Singapore and Malaysia through pipelines.

He said he had passed the information to the provincial governor and the governor showed a positive response to the report.

The provincial administration had decided to invite ACE in the near future to present a feasibility study on the development of the methane resource and to invite American investors to develop it, Armain said. (*)