Coalbed methane's project

JAKARTA (JP): State oil and gas company Pertamina and the country's largest oil company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia are developing a coalbed methane reserve in Ombilin, West Sumatra, in an effort to find alternative energy, Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said Friday.

"Bestowed with large coal reserves, the potential of coalbed methane as an alternative energy source is worth considering," the minister said.

He said the government appointed Pertamina and Caltex, together with the ministry's Directorate General of Oil and Gas, to develop coalbed methane, which is also known as light paraffin, in Ombilin, as a pilot project.

The project is expected to start production in 2002, he said.

He said coalbed methane has been widely developed as an alternative energy in many countries since 1980s.

According to a survey, the open-pit Ombilin coal mine contains a potential reserve of 1.2 trillion cubic feet of coalbed methane at an average depth of 2,935 feet. (jsk)