Kalimantan Gold in India talks on Indonesian coal

JAKARTA, March 16 (Reuters) - Canadian mining firm Kalimantan Gold Corp. is in talks with an Indian power plant on equity participation and a supply deal in a coal project in Indonesia's East Kalimantan, a company official said on Monday.

Kalimantan Gold (KLG.V), a junior mining firm listed on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange and the AIM Exchange, said in November last year it had signed an option with a local firm PT Indobara Pratama to bring its coal deposits into production and acquire up to an 80 percent stake.

The firm has an exclusive 90-day option on due diligence as well as for a drilling programme during this period, Kalimantan Gold said in its statement.

PT Indobara owns a coal mine in East Kalimantan which has potential deposits of between 55-60 million tonnes of 5,400 kcal/kg of coal, Kalimantan Gold said in December.

"We are inviting them (the Indian power firm) because for this type of coal you need long term and certainty. It's not the type of coal you can sell for spot market," said Mansur Geiger, Kalimantan Gold's vice president for exploration.

"They will own shares and they will be responsible for the coal off-take," Geiger told reporters, adding the mine is expected to start commercial production in September.

He did not name the Indian power plant or give the number of shares it might take up in the project.

The coal mine is expected to produce 1 million tonnes in the first year, gradually increasing to 5 million tonnes within 4-5 years, he said.

Indonesia' energy ministry expects the country to produce about 230 million tonnes of coal this year, unchanged from 2008 on expected slowing demand.

But industry officials said the country's coal output may reach 250-260 million tonnes as coal consumption by India and China would help shore up demand.[ID:nDEL409393]

India's demand for coal is growing by around 8-9 percent a year, outpacing production that is growing by 6 percent as the power sector has not been as badly hit by the credit crunch.

The government expects Indonesia's coal output to increase to 250 million tonnes in 2010 and 321 million tonnes by 2015.

(Reporting by Fitri Wulandari; Editing by Ed Davies)

PT Adaro Indonesia seeks coal mining professionals

PT Adaro Indonesia operates under a Coal Cooperation Agreement with the Government of Indonesia which gives it the right to mine coal within its Agreement Area in the Tanjung district of Kalimantan Selatan Province until the year 2022 with Rights to extend by mutual agreement are available.

There are three deposits within the Agreement Area which contain total coal resources of 2.8 billion tones of open cut coal characterized by extremely thick seams of up to 50 meters with relatively low overburdenhereby otter you the following positions:

Loading Foreman - Taboneo (LF) :

* Male, Graduate of Marine Merchanshlp Academy or similar field discipline
* Holding the certificate ANT-III/MPB-111
* Experienced min 2 (two) years sea service (preferably in dry bulk carrier) as Deck Officer on board

Port Captain - Kelanis (PC) :

* Male, graduate in marine academic
* Min. 2 years experience in port captain
* Knowledge of draft survey
* Holding mm certificate ANT-III

Legal Officer (LO) :

* Male, S1 degree in Law Perdata
* Min, 3 years of experience in legal officer

Safety Foreman- (SF) :

* Male. S-1 degree in Engineering, Safety and Mining
* Min. 3 years of experienced in safety mining.

Mine Supervisor - (MS) :

* S1/D3 Degree in Mine Engineering
* Min 3 years (S1) / 5 years (D3) of experience in mine operations/planning
* Good knowledge of drilling & blasting

General requirements :

* Maximum 35 years old.
* Good conversation in English (oral & written).
* Good in computer application in related position.
* Willing to be stationed in remote location (some position in Kelanis or Taboneo)
* Good attitude, honest, self-motivated, team player, leadership, strong analysis, conceptual thinking; communicative: cooperative and ready to work under pressure.

Should If you meet the above qualifications, please submit your application letter & CV (including your photograph), and put the position code on the top left corner of the envelope to:

HR Recruitment
PO BOX 110 TTS, Tanjung Tabalong 71500. South Kalimantan, or email to: hr.kalimantan@ptadaro.com, Documents must be in Ms. Word formal (max, 500KB) Closing date: March 24, 2009

Chevron loses 75,000 barrels to militants

By Sola Adebayo, Warri

Published: Monday, 16 Mar 2009

THE American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, on Saturday, suffered a fresh setback in its operation in the Niger Delta region, as its pipelines serving some production platforms in Delta State were blown up by some yet-to-be identified persons.

The pipelines, covering about 10 kilometres, were blown up with dynamite at the coastal Makaraba and Kokodiagbene communities in Warri South West Local Government Area of the state.

Findings by our correspondent on Sunday showed that the pipelines serviced three major production platforms of the oil giant before they were damaged by the hoodlums.

It was gathered that the perpetrators carried out the attack at 2:45am on Saturday.

Reliable sources in CNL identified the flow stations being serviced by the ill-fated pipelines as Makaraba, Otunana and Abiteye. It was gathered that the three production platforms produced 75,000 barrels of crude oil per day before thy were damaged on Saturday.

The incident occurred less than three weeks after the Abiteye pipeline belonging to the American energy giant suffered the same fate in a coastal community in the council area.

CNL sources said the three flow stations had been shut down as at Saturday night, apparently to curtail the oil spill resulting from the incident.

Already, four communities identified as Kokodiagbene, Ighosuo-Gbene, Teide-Gbene and Ughe-Gbene have been badly affected by the spill. It was gathered that the spill had destroyed aquatic and other normal life activities in the Ijaw communities.

Further findings by our correspondent showed that 75,000 barrels of crude oil per day had been shut-in by the oil firm due to the development, a development observers said could cause another round of fuel scarcity in the country.

Our source said preliminary investigation by the CNL management and the authorities of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta region, Operation Restore Hope, showed that the vandals threw dynamite at the pipeline and disappeared from the scene.

The source added, “Some criminals blew up major pipelines servicing three flow stations in Delta State with dynamite on Saturday morning. The pipelines running into about 10 kilometres, were destroyed by the blast. It is sad to note that we have shut down Makaraba, Otunana and Abiteye flow stations because of this unfortunate incident.

“Consequently, we are losing 75,000 barrels of crude oil per day since Saturday because of the destruction of the pipelines. The management has reported the incident to the security agencies, particularly the JTF in Warri.”

The Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre, JTF, Col. Rabe Abubakar, confirmed the report, and accused a militant group based in Delta State of perpetrating the act.

He said, “A new militant group suspected to have defected from the Camp of Government Ekpomukpolo, a.k.a Tompolo, has vandalised Chevron oil pipeline running from Makaraba Otunana/Abiteye flow stations at Makaraba and Kokodiagbene Area of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State at about 02:45am.

“The group had threatened to continue with their attacks on installations and facilities unless they receive gratification from the multinationals. The JTF would not allow this trend to continue in the region. We are going to identify and arrest every member of the group who participated in the act to serve as a deterrent to others.”

Chevron's Indonesian fields continue to expand

Taking the article from the Asian Oil & Gas magazine,

More Kutei Basin fields in development frame: Indonesia’s first producing deepwater field, West Seno, looks set to be joined by several other fields in the Kutei Basin in the Makassar Strait off the coast of East Kalimantan, all under the operatorship of Chevron.

AOG 2009-03 Kutei Basin

This entry was posted on Friday, March 13th, 2009

Indonesia's Adaro plans acquisition to improve supply

JAKARTA, March 12 (Reuters) - Indonesia's second-largest coal producer, PT Adaro Energy Tbk (ADRO.JK), plans to acquire a coal barging and transshipment company to improve its supply chain, the company said in a statement.

Adaro did not identify companies being targeted for acquisition, but said negotiations were taking place and an announcement was planned in the coming weeks.

"As our coal mine is located quite far inland, it is imperative we acquire direct control of the inland waterway transportation and ship loading," Ah Hoo Chia, Adaro's operations director, said.

"We already control a portion of the mining and overland transportation and own a port facility; now we can be completely linked from pit to port."

The firm said it expected the acquisition value would not exceed $100 million and it would be funded from existing cash and operating cash flows.

With the planned acquisition, the firm said it expected additional capital expenditure on top of the $120 million capital expenditure planned for this year.

Adaro said it was still planning a 68 km (42.25 mile) overland conveyor, alongside the existing haul road, from the excavation area, near Tanjung South Kalimantan, to the final processing facility, the Kelanis river terminal in the Barito river.

The overland conveyor would have a production target of 80 million tonnes by 2013, the firm said.

Adaro was also sticking to a plan to construct a mine mouth power plant with two generating units of 30 megawatts each to power the overland conveyor at an expected cost of around $140 million, it said. Continued...

CPC Corp Awaits Indonesia's OK On Stakes In 2 New Blocks

TAIPEI -(Dow Jones)- Taiwan government-owned refiner CPC Corp. is awaiting regulatory approval for stakes it acquired in two Indonesia offshore exploration blocks late last year, deputy chief executive of CPC's exploration and production business division John Hsu said Friday.

"We signed the agreement in December, but we're still waiting for approval from (Indonesia's upstream oil and gas regulating body) BPMigas," said Hsu.

CPC got a 24.5% stake in a block in the Arafura Sea operated by Houston, Texas-based ConocoPhillips (COP) and a 20% stake in a block offshore Kalimantan operated by Italy's Eni SpA (E), said Hsu.

CPC is exploring for oil and gas in Australia, the U.S., Chad and Libya, and produces oil in Ecuador and Indonesia. It aims to raise its crude oil self- sufficiency ratio to 10% in five years from just under 3% now.

CPC also produces around 400 million cubic meters of natural gas onshore Taiwan, about 4% of the island's annual consumption.

CPC plans to boost this year's exploration and production budget by half to NT$4.93 billion (US$143 million) from 2008, with most of it destined for overseas projects.

Revisiting the Balikpapan Raid of 1944

Revisiting the Balikpapan Raid

In November last year I wrote an article about the first bombing raid on the oil refineries at Balikpapan by US forces in 1944. It seems to have been well received, and is still one of the most viewed of my 'Weekend Wings' series.

To my delight, a couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from Mr. Pete Hobstetter. He wrote:

I just read your blog about the Balikpapan raid. My father, Capt James Hobstetter, led the second group (13th Air Force) on the initial raid against the Pandasari Oil Complex. His diary very closely matches your description of the raid. His group was one of those who lingered over the target until it could be identified. I have attached a photo from his memoirs.

Intrigued, I wrote back, asking if he had any further information about the photograph, as well as about his father's wartime experiences. He replied:

My father is still alive but his vision is bad, and he can't positively identify the picture. I am, however, certain that it is from one of the first two raids against Balikpapan. His name is written on the back of the photo, leaving me to believe that the unit had the photos developed and distributed to the flight crews who participated on those raids.

If you look carefully you can see a complex of oil storage tanks on the right side of the photo, and the amount of flames beneath the smoke indicate that the fuel source is petroleum.

Your blog indicates that the skies over the target cleared significantly. My dad's journal indicates it cleared only over a portion of the target. My assumption is, if they gave dad the picture, it would be from the raid he was on, but it is possible that it was the second raid since the skies seem fairly clear. I don't suspect we will ever know for certain.

I have attached his diary entry for the mission. I will see him next week, and ask him if he has any objections to having it posted to your blog.

Dad arrived at Guadalcanal in April, 1944. He trained for 80 hours before being assigned to to the 370th Squadron., 307 Bomb Group (Heavy), 13th AAF. As the unit moved through the pacific they bombed targets primarily at Rabaul, Biak, Truk, Yap and finally Balikpapan. I know they went on to bomb targets in the Philippines, but his journal ended at Balikpapan so I can give you no details.

After the war he returned to his home in Dayton, Ohio and raised a happy family of six children. I was born in February of 1946, so if the math is right, he returned home sometime in June of 1945.

He and one remaining crew member, Wayne Cooper of Hayward California, are still living.

Mr. Hobstetter asked his father whether I might quote from his diary about his wartime experiences, particularly concerning the Balikpapan raid. His father has graciously given permission for me to do so. Mr. Hobstetter sent me the following extract from his diary, which I reproduce with grateful thanks to both of them. Here's the picture, followed by an unvarnished eye-witness testimony to that historic raid.

First Raid on Pandansari Refinery in Balikpapan, launched 29 September 1944


Sept. 20, 1944

This is it. Balikpapan in Borneo, the largest producer of aviation gasoline the Japs have. We are all going after the Pandansari refinery “the Ploesti of the Pacific”. How we will ever make it and home again I don’t know.

Test runs on fuel consumption have been made and the higher ups say we can and must do it. If we can they say the war will be shortened six months to a year and the Philippines campaign will be much easier. Everyone is excited as hell. War correspondents and reporters are flooding in to witness the mission.


Sept. 27

This is important. The Rank from every place in the Pacific are here. The place is full of Generals. General Kenney is here. Every plane is being carefully tuned and loaded to full capacity, 3550 gal of gasoline – meaning two bombing tanks and both wing tanks. Our ammunition has been cut down to decrease the load. With the interception expected I don’t like it a bit. The planes will weight close to 70,000 lbs. And our runway is only 6,000 ft. long. This alone is bad enough – the worst part is that it will be a night take-off.

I wonder how many boys will die trying to get off the ground.

The Snoopers are laying bets that we lose 10% on take-off. They say we can’t do it. Theoretically they should know because every take-off they make is at night and they never carry anything approaching our load.


Sept. 28

We have had briefings everyday. Everything is being done to boost our morale. We have been told that no matter what our losses are – if we can knock Balikpapan out the cost is worth it. Everyone is to get a medal that makes the flight.


Sept. 29

This is it! Although I’m not certain that I’m very enthusiastic about it. I am to lead our group. We are going over in two waves about 20 minutes apart, so actually I am leading only a section. The 5th group is going, also the 5th Air Force, 90th group. We will not get fighter cover naturally.

The mission is expected to be 16 hours continually over Jap held territory. We are to fly individually to a rendezvous point on the other side of the Celebes.

I’m not sure whether to try to sleep or not. I’m too nervous to make up my mind. Takeoff is at 0100. The thought of that take-off worries the hell out of me. I’ve never taken off with such a load even in the daytime, and I don’t mind admitting I’m scared.

They are placing ducks and all different kinds of boats with lights on in water off the edge of the strip in order to give us some sort of horizon.

It’s a black night but the weather is supposedly pretty good. Our ships are lined up the entire length of the strip. Crowds of people have come down to the line to watch. M.P.s and Jeeps are all over the place.

The first ship from the 5th group is in take-off and everyone is asking one question – Can he make it? I’ve never been so nervous. I hope he makes it. If he can I can. The 5th group leader is a Lt. Colonel flying his last mission. Little does he know now that he is to be shot down over the target. He made it and I breathed a sigh of relief. It looked for a moment as if he would never get off the runway, but he did and I could see his lights very low on the water.

I’m in take-off position and waiting for the light – my throat is very dry. I’m moving down the runway. The engineer is calling off the airspeed. 105 – 110 – 120 –130 – 135. I was almost out of runway when she finally became airborne. I could see the last lights pass below before I went on instrument. We were just mushing through air and very low. I thought the airspeed would never build up to normal climb. I held my altitude to 100 ft. until I got enough airspeed to climb. I hate to think of what would happen if an engine had sneezed once.

I circled and headed out on course while continuing to climb. Immediately I ran into turbulent cumulus clouds based at about 1,000 ft. We were rocked, thrown and jolted until I thought the bomb bay would break in two. My respect for a B-24 increased doubly in that it could stand that turbulence and still carry that load without breaking up.

We finally broke out and the weather cleared up beautifully. At daybreak we hit the Celebes coast. The weather was excellent and everything was running perfectly. I had carefully nursed my fuel, stretching every ounce I could get. My plane was new and the only one equipped with radar for blind bombing.

Our rendezvous on the west coast of Borneo worked perfectly – all ships did an excellent job and we were on course to the target on time. I had a sinking feeling when we reached the Borneo coast. After flying all this distance the weather was socked in below us, and the target obscured. I didn’t quite know what to do.

We proceeded in the general direction of the refinery but I couldn’t see a damn thing. I made a large circle and came back looking for an opening but no luck so, I headed inland again. The other group made an E.T.A. run, dropped their bombs and went home. I contacted our radar man and told him to pick up the target.

Interception had started and I was so busy I didn’t notice it at first. When our guns started to fire I rather stupidly asked Thayne if we were being intercepted. He simply said “what do you think”. I had to laugh. The other group was being heavily intercepted but as yet they had not turned their full attack on us.

Our radar operator was having trouble and the navigator’s radar was completely out. I didn’t know what to do. Every instinct told me that I should drop my bombs on E.T.A. and beat it for home. On the other hand we had flown the longest distance ever attempted by 4 engine bombers in formation, and we were after the most important target in the Pacific.

Had I known we were going to come back to Balikpapan again I probably would have dropped my bombs in the water and left, but at the time I was under the impression that this was to be the only raid – similar to Ploesti. At any rate I turned inland again and contacted the radar operator.

Everyone was getting rather nervous as we were still being intercepted. I know the other pilots must have been cursing me for staying over the target so long. The radar man finally called back that he had picked up the target and I turned back on course. The radar operator was flying his first mission and was excited as hell. I could barely make out what he was saying because he was yelling over the radio, and I couldn’t quiet him down. We got on course however and dropped our bombs on the northern portion of the target (as best we could tell from the radar). Had the navigator’s equipment been in operation I feel certain that we could have smacked it in the center.

Heavy AA barrages were coming up through the clouds, but not too accurate because we weren’t hit. I immediately concentrated on evasive action because the Zeroes were still attacking. I don’t know whether they were low on ammunition or what because they weren’t too eager and did little damage. The 5th group lost three planes and several badly damaged.

The 5th Air Force “Jolly Rogers” didn’t hit the target. They dropped their load on the coast up north, and one squadron turned back without dropping their bombs because they heard us being intercepted. They never hit a target without fighter cover and because they didn’t have it today, they turned back because of the enemy fighters.

I will never forget that long ride home. We had been over the target 40 minutes longer than we were supposed to be, and I sweated and nursed our gasoline like a newborn babe.

After 16 hours of flying we landed at Noemfoor. Crowds lined the runway to welcome the ships back. There was much handshaking but everyone was disappointed because the target was closed in. I was too tired and nervous to sleep so I got drunk and then slept for about a day and a half. I had gone without sleep for almost two days so everything averaged out beautifully.

This was my 36th mission.

Grateful thanks to Mr. Hobstetter Sr. for sharing his memoirs with us, and to his son for taking the time and trouble to forward them to me.