VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, November 16, 2010 - CBM Asia Development Corp. (TSX.V: TCF) (US: CBMDF) (FWB: IY2) announces that Jakarta-based PT Medco CBM Sekayu ("MedcoEnergi"), a wholly owned subsidiary of PT Medco Energi CBM Indonesia, the operating partner of South Sumatra Energy Inc. on the Sekayu coalbed methane production sharing contract ("PSC"), has notified the Company that the third coalbed methane exploration well ("CBM SE-03") in the Sekayu Production Sharing Contract ("Sekayu PSC") block located in the South Sumatra Basin, Indonesia, was spud on Friday, October 29th, 2010.
CBM-SE-03 will be a vertical well with a 3,300-foot planned total depth, aimed at evaluating gas potential and reservoir properties of the two main coal groups of the Middle Palembang Formation - the upper Palembang Group and lower Pangadang Group. Under the terms of the Sekayu PSC, the minimum work commitment requires a total of four wells to be drilled in the first three years.
Initial test results from these operations are not expected to be available until later in the fourth quarter of 2010.
ABOUT CBM ASIA DEVELOPMENT CORP.
CBM Asia Development Corp. is a Canadian-based unconventional gas company with significant coalbed methane ("CBM") exploration and development opportunities in Indonesia. The Company has the right to earn an estimated 12% participating interest in a production sharing contract ("PSC") for CBM on a 58,349 hectare block located in the South Sumatra Basin where initial exploration drilling of a production test well commenced in the second half of 2009. The Company has committed to fund an initial US$3.25 million in exploration expenditures on the Sekayu PSC to prove reserves and submit a Plan of Development to the Government of Indonesia. The Company also has an 18% net working interest in a PSC for CBM on a 76,000 hectare block located in the Kutai Basin of East Kalimantan. As geotechnical lead, the Company is responsible for directing a US$5.6 million exploration and appraisal program to November 2011, to determine commercial feasibility of CBM production for the Kutai-West PSC and submit a Plan of Development. The Company has 40% net working interests in a second 56,500 hectare block also in the prolific Kutai Basin. Indonesia has one of the largest CBM resources in the world with a potential 453 trillion cubic feet in-place, more than double the country's conventional natural gas reserves (Stevens and Hadiyanto, 2004). Between May 2008 and August 2009, 15 CBM PSCs were granted by the Government of Indonesia, representing exploration commitments of US$95.68 million over the next 3 years. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "TCF".
ON BEHALF OF CBM ASIA DEVELOPMENT CORP.
