CBM Asia Announces Plan for Commercializing Kutai West Resources

CBM Asia Announces Plan for Commercializing Kutai West Resources

CBM Asia Development announced plans for the Kutai West PSC development.

CBM Asia’s primary goal for 2014 is to commercialize the Kutai West Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, located near the Bontang LNG export facility. Achieving early-stage commercial production will help unlock the value of this asset, which is situated close to high-priced Asian gas markets.

705 Bcf Near Bontang LNG Facility. CBM Asia holds an 18% working interest in the Kutai West PSC, representing 705 Bcf of recoverable prospective resources net to CBM Asia from the total 3.9 Tcf estimated by an independent audit conducted in 2013 by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. Kutai West is regarded as one of the best and commercially most advanced of the more than 50 awarded CBM blocks in Indonesia.

Kutai West is adjacent to the Sanga-Sanga PSC, where VICO (BP and partners) is commercially producing and selling CBM for power generation and gas to the nearby Bontang LNG facility. As VICO notes: “This is the first time in Indonesia that any CBM facilities have produced and sold gas and represents a major milestone in the exploration of CBM potential.”

Kutai West will produce from the same coal seams as at Sanga-Sanga. To date, the company and its partners have drilled four CBM test wells on the block, verifying thick coal seams (average 105 ft) with high gas content (average 300 ft3/ton; dry, ash-free basis) and gas saturation (close to 100%), as well as 5-mD permeability. The KWCBM-01 well is currently being dewatered, venting produced gas from the flare stack, which is a key first step towards larger scale production.

Management’s main focus this year is to initiate commercial gas production at Kutai West with a 5-well pilot, followed by a larger commercial scale 25-well development (total 30 wells). To this end the company has reached consensus with partners to sell the produced gas to locally installed gas engine power generation units selling power into the PLN grid and later to feed gas into the gas-short Bontang LNG export network. Anticipated gas prices are USD8/Mcf or higher. Bontang exports LNG to Japan and other Asian rim importers, which are critically short of natural gas.

Phase 1: Under Phase 1 four new CBM wells will be drilled near the existing KW-CBM01, forming an effective dewatering pilot on tight 40-acre spacing to accelerate gas production and demonstrate commerciality. Produced gas estimated at 2.0-2.5 MMcfd (gross) would be sold to a power station developer/operator and PLN for on-site power generation at about US$8/Mcf. The government of Indonesia strongly supports such commercialization prior to formal Plan of Development (POD) approval. Total capex for Phase 1 is estimated at US$7.16 million, comprising four wells at US$1.46 million/well cost (drilling & completion, water management, and surface facilities) plus US$1.32 million in engineering and overhead costs. An additional $200,000 would be required for field operating expenses during the first year. CBM Asia’s share of the Phase 1 costs is estimated at US$2.15 million.

The 10-MW power station would employ an array of 1- to 5-MW reciprocating engines; hundreds of such installations already are in operation throughout Indonesia. The power station would be independently owned and operated, with no capital required from CBM Asia. Drilling and completing the wells would require about two months, plus an additional four months to install and commission the power plant. An updated engineering audit would be conducted to certify proved and probable reserves, with an excellent chance of qualifying the project for low-cost Phase 2 project financing.

Phase 2: Following success in Phase 1 and the approval of the Phase 2 POD, CBM Asia and its partners would utilize two rigs to drill an additional 25 wells (30 total) over a 7-month period. The increased production initially would supply the power station. Pending successful conclusion of a sales agreement, a 12-inch, 20-km pipeline would be constructed to the Badak compressor station by a third party under BOO basis and funded via an estimated $0.50/Mcf transport tariff. Total capex for phase 2 is estimated at US$36.3 million with CBM Asia’s share of costs estimated at US$8.0 million. Production estimated at 12.5 MMcfd (gross) would be sold into the Bontang LNG export network at approximately US$8/Mcf or more. Note that Bontang is the world’s second largest LNG plant (22.5 mtpa), shipping primarily to Japan, but local conventional gas supplies are in decline and the facility is currently operating at less than 60% of capacity.

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Press Release, April 04, 2014; Image: CBM Asia