CBM Asia Provides Review of Operations and Financing Update

CBM Asia Provides Review of Operations and Financing Update
  
 

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec 4, 2013) - CBM Asia Development Corp. ("CBM Asia" or the "Company") (TSX-VENTURE:TCF)(US:CBMDF)(FRANKFURT:IY2) provides a review of its operations in Indonesia's emerging coalbed methane industry as well as an update on the status of the Company's current financing activities. The Company wishes to correct misperceptions about its progress which may have arisen from recent media reports.

Review of Operations. To date the Company and its operating partners have successfully drilled and tested a total of eight coalbed methane exploration wells at two Production Sharing Contract (PSC) areas in Indonesia. This resulted in 981 Bcf of recoverable prospective resources net to the Company.1 Given the Company has raised a total of $34 million to date, this equates to overall finding costs of approximately $0.03/Mcf. The CBM gas sales price in Indonesia ranges from $7.50 to nearly $20/Mcf.

The Company's first CBM test well, also Indonesia's first CBM exploration well, was drilled in 2009 by operating partner Medco Energi at the Sekayu PSC in South Sumatra. Core recovery was poor due to mechanical problems. However, geophysical logs confirmed the presence of thick coals with strong gas kicks. After the well was drilled, coal seam permeability was successfully measured in-situ at 500 mD. In 2011 contractor Weatherford re-entered the well to conduct critical desorption tests, measuring methane saturation levels of up to 95%. Apart from the early coring mishap, this well provided a complete set of geologic data for resource evaluation.

The following seven wells drilled by the Company and its operating partners were operationally successful and provided complete geologic data for resource evaluation. Core recovery rates in the seven wells averaged over 90%. Gas content measured on the core ranged from 75 to 359 ft3/ton (dry, ash-free basis), much higher than at the analog Powder River Basin in the USA (current CBM production 830 million ft3/day). Most recently, 5-millidarcy permeability was measured in three coal seams at the KW-CBM-1 well, comparable to that of the USA Central Appalachian Basin where Consol Energy currently produces 240 million ft3/day.

Qualified Reserves Evaluator Netherland, Sewell and Associates, Inc. (NSAI) has independently evaluated these data and estimated 981 Bcf of recoverable prospective gas resources, net to the Company. NSAI has estimated the overall probability of commerciality at 50%. Subsequently, gas flow and permeability tests have been conducted further derisking the assets. The two blocks evaluated by NSAI represent just 6% of the Company's total net acreage in Indonesia.

CBM gas prices in Indonesia range from $7.50/Mcf for local power generation at VICO's Sanga-Sanga PSC to nearly $20/Mcf for gas exported from the Bontang LNG facility.2 If the company is successful at producing and selling its 981 Bcf at these prices, gross revenues could range from $7.5 to nearly $20 billion.

During 2013 the Company made significant progress towards further expanding its resource base in Indonesia. After signing the JV umbrella agreement with ExxonMobil to farm into four PSC's in the Barito Basin, the Company and ExxonMobil have jointly developed and submitted the detailed exploration plans required by regulator SKK Migas. To implement the planned 10-well Barito drilling program we increased our Jakarta staff to include local CBM-experienced geologists, engineers, and environmental specialists. The General Manager is our single expatriate employee. The increased staff and consulting expenses were reasonable and necessary given the magnitude of the Barito Basin, where CBM gas-in-place resources are estimated at 102 Tcf.3 To minimize expenses management has returned over CAD525,000 in salaries and travel expenses into the company via the private placement. We employ two full-time staff at our Vancouver home office, the CFO and an accountant, and our overhead expenses remain low compared with peer E&P companies.

On the commercial side, the Company has been working towards establishing gas offtake agreements with multinational companies. We signed an agreement with Linde Group (market capitalization EUR27 billion) to jointly conduct a CBM-to-LNG supply study of up to 50 MMcf/d in the Barito Basin. We also signed a CBM-to-Power agreement for up to 5 million ft3/day with Navigat Energy, a leading Southeast Asia power project developer financed by General Electric and Standard Chartered bank. The quality of our production and offtake partners significantly enhances the Company's ability to project finance future development and generate significant cash flow.

1 NI 51-101 compliant

2 Jakarta Post, April 19, 2012 and ENI Upstream Seminar Transcript, October 11, 2012.

3 Society of Petroleum Engineers, SPE 88630, 2004. Not compliant with NI 51-101.

Barito Basin JV with ExxonMobil. CBM Asia has signed the Umbrella Agreement with ExxonMobil to farm into four CBM PSC's in the Barito Basin. Both companies are engaged in amending certain terms of the agreement. The Company with approval from ExxonMobil will announce details in the near future.

Financing. In light of the difficult market conditions prevailing for most junior resources company the company reduced its private placement requirements to CAD5.0 million in July as a means to focus on a broader financial solution. As of today CBM Asia has been offered financing facilities of USD25 million and EUR60 million by two private institutions. The Company has been engaged with the two institutions for several months. Recent communications and exchange of term sheets indicate possible final decision by the Company to determine which institution to work with in December/January followed by immediate drawdown.

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 holds various participating interests in five production sharing contracts (each a "PSC") for CBM in Indonesia, with the right to farm-into 4 additional PSCs. Indonesia has one of the largest CBM resources in the world with a potential 453 trillion feet3 in-place, more than double the country's natural gas reserves (Stevens and Hadiyanto, 2004). Since 2008 a total of 54 CBM PSCs have been granted by the Government of Indonesia, representing exploration commitments of well over US$100 million during the next 3 years. In addition to CBM Asia, other companies active in CBM exploration in Indonesia include BP, Dart Energy, ENI, ExxonMobil, Medco, Santos, and TOTAL. BP, ENI, and the Indonesian government have confirmed that commercial CBM production started in March 2011 from the Sanga-Sanga PSC and is being exported from the Bontang LNG facility. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "TCF". www.cbmasia.ca

ON BEHALF OF CBM ASIA DEVELOPMENT CORP.

Alan T. Charuk, President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. The economics of exploring, developing and operating resource properties are affected by many factors including, but not limited to, the cost of exploration and development operations, conclusions of economic evaluations, unexpected formations or pressures, premature declines in reserves, potential environmental damage, blow‐outs, fires, variations in the amount and saturation of CBM contained in individual coal seams and the rate of production therefrom, fluctuations in gas prices and the availability of capital. There are no assurances that the Company's work programs will result in the discovery of commercially viable or economically producible properties or that the Company will be successful in completing the Offering in whole or in part. Gas in place estimates referred to in this news release are not NI 51-101 compliant and do not represent "discovered petroleum initially-in-place" within the meaning of the Canadian Oil & Gas Evaluation Handbook (COGE Handbook). The term "discovered petroleum initially-in-place" is equivalent to discovered resources, and is defined in the COGE Handbook to mean that quantity of petroleum that is estimated, as of a given date, to be contained in known accumulations prior to production. There are no assurances that any portion of the estimated gas in place resources referred to herein will be discovered. Furthermore, such estimates make no allowance for the recovery of the gas which will depend on, among other things, the reservoir characteristics encountered and future economic conditions. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our Canadian continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including our December 31, 2012 year end annual MD&A dated April 24, 2013 and June 30, 2013 interim MD&A dated August 20, 2013. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation.

THIS NEWS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL SECURITIES AND THE COMPANY IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

CBM Asia Development Corp.Alan Charuk(604) 684-2340 or [phone](604) [e-mail] Cap et al1 877 642 [e-mail]