Tlou Reports Sustained CBM Flow In Botswana
Australian gas-to-power developer Tlou has achieved sustained gas flow at its Lesedi coalbed methane (CBM) development in Botswana, the company reported in an August 22 London stock exchange filing.
Initial flows of around 20,000 ft3/day were sustained at both the Lesedi-3 and Lesedi-4 production sites, with rates expected to continue rising steadily up to commercial levels.
“The company is very encouraged by production data and well performance to date and looks forward to providing further updates in due course,” Tlou said.
Tlou operates across 8,300 km2 of eastern Botswana containing some 90.6bn m3 of gas trapped in coalbeds. The company hopes to pioneer the development of the south African country's CBM resources and use them to produce power. Its plan is to have a power purchase agreement in place and financing arranged by the end of this year, in order to start electricity sales in 2020.
Tlou reported reaching critical desorption pressure (CDP) – the point when gas begins to seep out of coal after a dewatering process – at the Lesedi-4 site last month.
CBM extraction technology underpinned the series of LNG export terminals in Queensland, Australia, but there have been technical problems upstream reported there.