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hydraulic Fracturing In Coal Bed methane Reservoirs: the Prospective Methods For Enchancing Indonesia's Future Coalbed Methane Development

Proceedings Title : Proc. Indon. Petrol. Assoc., 37th Ann. Conv., 2013

Based on oil and gas reports from Indonesia’s Energy Ministry (2011), Indonesia is nominated as having the sixth largest coal bed methane (CBM) resources in the world, with total potential resources of 453 trillion cubic feet (TFC). There are eleven coal basins in Indonesia, with the big four resources being South Sumatra (183 TCF), Barito (101.6 TCF), Kutai (80.4 TCF), and Central Sumatra (52.5 TCF). Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used by the oil and gas industry to improve the production efficiency of oil and CBM wells. It involves injecting large volumes of water, sand, or other proppants and specialized chemicals under enough pressure into the production well to fracture the low-permeability geologic formations containing gas. Sand or other proppants create a fracture to release gas, resulting in large CBM production. This method has been used in the basins in the United States and it shows that hydraulic fracturing is a proven method to enhance production results. Hydraulic fracturing in CBM wells may create some negative effects, such as groundwater contamination due to the chemical elements emitted from fracturing the hydraulic fluid. But, it is only a small risk because the system used in hydraulic fracturing and all associated chemicals are handled in accordance with the appropriate legislation and are considered to have a minimal impact on the environment. In addition, the products of these methods will produce CBM in an amount more than the application of the injection methods. This paper will introduce the feasibilities of using hydraulic fracturing in the CBM wells in Indonesia from several aspects. By applying hydraulic fracturing systems, we can possibly contribute to fulfilling our Indonesia energy needs to be more efficient and effective.

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