PRESS RELEASE: APCO?S press release blatantly misleading
Tuesday, July 30 2002 - 01:35 AM WIB
Prof. David S. Chapmen from the Department of Geology and Geophysics and who is Vice President of The University of Utah (USA) has strongly denied the contents of a press release issued by APCO Indonesia on July 22, 2002 that Imam Rahardjo (Pertamina?s geologist at The University of Utah) had concluded that (1) geothermal production area in Karaha Bodas is 25 sq miles, and (2) the area has the capacity to turn out no less than 210 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
Prof. David feels so deeply disappointed and strongly protests APCO?s efforts to benefit from Mr. Imam?s paper which had been misinterpreted by APCO and used for building its arguments in the dispute between Pertamina and Karaha Bodas Company (KBC). The strong denial from Prof. David, who is Dean of the Graduate School of The university of Utah, shows that APCO Indonesia as KBC?s PR Consultant had distorted facts by lying the public so as to make its client win in the dispute without taking into account professional norms and ethics.
Prof. David also has strongly stated that APCO Indonesia had misinterpreted the paper: ?Magnetotelluric Interpretation of the Karaha Bodas Geothermal Field, Indonesia? which was written by Imam Rahardjo together with Phil Wannamaker and Rick Allis.
The paper, published in conjunction with the Twenty-seventh Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering, Stanford University, January 28-30, 2002, did not contain any estimation of power generation potentials which could be developed in Karaha Bodas.
Prof. David added that it was totally unjustifiable to take estimates of geothermal system presented in the Stanford Geothermal Workshop as commercial geothermal reservoir.
Prof Davis also stated that APCO?s press release, which had mixed the broad concept of geothermal system with commercial geothermal reservoir, is blatantly misleading.
According to Prof. David, commercial geothermal reservoir is in reality a small part of the whole geothermal system.
Prof. David further said that the Magnetotelluric method can not help determine geothermal energy potentials. The approach required to determine such potentials is exploration drilling and well test. The results of the production test at KBC wells showed that existing total potential of 30 MW with fluid chemical contents would pose a problem due to the high concentrations of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) gas which range from 366 to 5100 parts per million (ppm). H2S with 500-700 ppm can kill living creatures within 30 minutes.
Contact: PR Manager of Pertamina Ridwan Nyak Baik (*)