27 Geological Recommendations Issued in 2020, Says Agency Head

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 030.Pers/04/SJI/2021

Date: 20 January 2021

27 Geological Recommendations Issued in 2020, Says Agency Head

In 2020, the Geological Agency issued 27 recommendations for the oil and gas, mineral and coal, and geothermal subsectors, Head of Geological Agency of Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) Eko Budi Lelono said at the virtual Press Conference on Performance Report of 2020 and Work Plan for 2021 of the Geological Agency.

"Based on the geological surveys that we performed in 2020, we were able to issue three recommendations on conventional oil and gas potential areas and one recommendation on non-conventional potential area, ten recommendations on mineral Mining Business License Area (WIUP), ten on coal WIUP, and three on Geothermal Work Area (WK)," said Eko on Wednesday (20/1).

The three recommendations on conventional oil and gas potential areas are Work Area Recommendation (RWK) Banjarnegara in Central Java Province, RWK West Madura (Bawean II) in East Java Province, and RWK Muna-Button in Southeast Sulawesi as well as one Non-Conventional RWK Central Sumatra in Riau Province. The four recommendations add up to 38 oil and gas work area recommendations that have been issued since 2015.

"We've put forward these recommendations to Directorate General of Oil and Gas. It will be up to DG Oil and Gas whether to put these areas up to tender or to carry out further study or additional surveys," said Eko.

Last year, the Geological Agency also carried out an oil and gas geological survey of Pembuang Basin in South Kalimantan.

To discover mineral potential, the Geological Agency conducted surveys and studies at 9 locations, namely further prospecting for gold and its associated minerals in North Sumatra Province, precious metals and base metals in West Nusa Tenggara Province, rare earth metals and strategic metals in Central Sulawesi Province, nickel dan its associated minerals in North Maluku Province, regional geochemical survey under a sheet system of Morotai A-1 in North Maluku Province, prospecting for limestone and phosphate in Aceh Province, kaolin in West Kalimantan Province, and precious stones in West Sulawesi.

"We also isssued five metal WIUP recommendations and another 5 recommendations for non-metal WIUP. Moreover, we evaluated the prospects of PT Freeport Indonesia's ex-area," explained Eko.

To discover Indonesia's coal potential, the Agency also made six coal surveys and studies, namely review surveys on coal in Bengkulu Province, geological and geophysical surveys in South Sumatra Province, prospecting for peat in West Kalimantan Province, review surveys on coal in South Kalimantan Province, and prospecting for coal at two locations in South Sulawesi Province. It issued 10 recommendations for Coal WIUP in 2020.

Next, the Agency performed characterization of metallurgical coal. The indicated resource of metallurgical coal totalled 7.23 metric ton (MT), while reserves 1.74 MT.

The Agency also conducted a number of studies on the types and concentration of rare earth metals at six selected areas in Kalimantan Island.

In terms of geothermal potential, Eko spelt out that the Geological Agency had done geothermal surveys at 6 locations, namely at Aloe Calong in Aceh Province, Ciamis in West Java Province, Panulisan in Central Java Province, Sulili in South Sulawesi Province, Nagekeo in East Nusa Tenggara Province, and Pinamuda in Central Sulawesi Province.

Three proposals for Geothermal Work Area (WK) had been submitted, namely Limbong in South Sulawesi Province (12 MWe), Sajau in North Kalimantan Province (6 MWe), and Bandabaru in Maluku Province (9MWe).

Finally, the Geological Agency issued one recommendation for Karst Region, one recommendation for Coalbed Methane (CMB) Work Area, five recommendations for integrated geological surveys, and 1,689 groundwater technical recommendation. (IY)

Head of Bureau of Communication, Public Information Services, and Cooperation

Agung Pribadi (08112213555)

Share This!