Management Strategy of Geothermal Exploration in Indonesia

Abstract

Geothemal exploration in Indonesia was officialy started in 1972, although scientific drilling had been done as early as 1926 - 1928 in the Kamojang Geothermal prospect, West Java. During the last 20 years, more than 67 high enthalphy geothermal prospects have been discovered spreading along the islands of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and East Indonesia. In our geothermal exploration program, management strategy is important, because it affects M e r development. In order to minimize the cost, Pertamina has a standard procedure in approaching the decision whether or not a prospective area will be developed. Such procedure involves geoscientific surveys, laboratory works, scientific evaluation, engineering aspect study, and economical evaluation. The next step would be the explotation of selected prospects that can be done by a developer if a positive result is obtained from an environmental impact study and is approved by the government.