Publications

The shale gas resource in Indonesia is still being assessed. The Head of Geological Agency for Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, R. Sukhyar, in September 2011, estimated the Indonesian shale gas resource to reach 570 trillion cubic feet (tcf) based on their latest studies (Petromindo, 2011). This paper includes a discussion of the shale gas potential in Western Indonesia and Eastern Indonesia and makes a comparison with shale gas potential in the U.S. The aim of this paper is to encourage shale gas development in Indonesia. The author used a desktop study and an X-ray diffraction study as input for this paper. From Sumatra to Papua, Indonesia has many oil producing basins. These basins have thick shales with high total organic content (TOC) and offer attractive opportunities as unconventional gas for the future. To better estimate the future Indonesian shale gas potential more detailed petrographic studies and mapping will be required.