Pertamina scouts for partners to explore for CBM in S. Sumatra

State oil and gas company PT. Pertamina is in talks with a number of companies to jointly explore for coal-bed methane (CBM) in its South Sumatra area, a company official said.

Tri Siwindono, Development Director of Pertamina EP said that Pertamina has a number of CBM prospects in its South Sumatra working areas, including Muara Enim and Pagar Dewa area. Pertamina EP is Pertamina?s upstream arm.

He said that Pertamina had held talks with a number of potential partners including Royal Dutch/Shell and sister company Elnusa.

CBM is methane gas found in the cracks of coal deposits. According to state oil and gas research center LEMIGAS, around 453 trillion cubic feet of CBM resource potentials are identified in Sumatra and Kalimantan Basins. CBM extraction is a method for extracting methane from a coal deposit. The methane is dissolved in subsurface water in the coal seam. To economically retrieve reserves of methane, wells are drilled into the deposit, water is pumped out, and then the methane is extracted, compressed and piped to market. (godang)