Advances In Technology Making Coalbed Methane Exploration More Effective

Coalbed methane is a valuable natural resource that American energy companies have long sought. However, extraction from the coal bed requires large wells to be dug and then lowered into the coal seam for methane gas extraction. This process has been time-consuming and expensive, making exploratory drilling only feasible in remote areas of the country where there are few other sources of natural gas.

Now, however, advancements in technology are making at-depth exploration of coalbeds more efficient by using hot water injection. Evidence suggests an uptick in well production following these methods due to lower investing in equipment and wells as well as less well abandonment expenses related to drilling deeper exploratory wells than ever before.

For example, a company called Hallador Energy has utilized hot water injection to produce gaseous coal reserves in Central Appalachia. In previous years Hallador had been utilizing hot-water drilling technology to extract gas from shale deposits, but the technique was not very effective in the Appalachian Basin in which it is located. In 2008, however, Hallador discovered that injecting hot water into coal seams would release previously inaccessible methane reserves.

Internal analysis conducted by Hallador shows that it reduced its overall production costs by lowering its exploratory wells’ depths from 6,500 to 4,900 feet by using this new technique. The result was a high rate of production for the wells—4% per month versus 2% for conventional wells. Hallador has also reduced its investment costs for each well by more than 50%.

Prior to this, Hallador was using a direct gas injection method to extract gas from coal seams. However, the process was expensive and inefficient. In light of these discoveries, the company is expanding its use of hot water drilling in an effort to further increase production and decrease costs.

The implications of new technology related to coalbeds are measurable and significant. However, it is important that fossil fuel companies at least consider the possibility of utilizing such methods before investing $1 billion dollars into extracting energy from coal beds—the costliest energy source on the planet.

http://www.investorideas.com/Green_Tech/article.html?id=68892

Title: Coalbed Methane: New Ways to Produce

Author: Daniel J. Weiss and David G. Hawkins <dan@climate.org> for Climate Institute <climate@climateinstitute.org> on 2011-03-01T14:20:39Z [ARTICLE]

Water has long been the bane of coal miners in Appalachia, where the nation's highest concentration of coal is located near the headwaters of many of its major rivers. Collapsing mines have caused floods and more than a hundred deaths over the years, and washing coal leaves behind large quantities of polluted water that often flows into local waterways.

In recent years, however, a new technique that has proven successful in extracting methane from collapsed mines is changing the economics of coal mining, creating a ripple effect through the energy sector. The method harnesses water to get at hidden coal beds long considered unreachable.

While industry experts say the technique itself is not new—the practice of using water to vaporize underground coal seams was pioneered by an early 20th-century inventor named Dynamite Johnny Steinbrecher—it has gained popularity in recent years.

The current surge in coalbed methane production is based on improvements in drilling technology and the introduction of cost-effective procedures for transporting and storing the fuel, which is still considered more costly than other forms of natural gas.

The technique involves pumping hot water from a reservoir into a deep mine shaft where, through a process known as thermal fracturing, the hot water breaks apart layers of solid coal and releases methane.

Up to 40 percent of U.S. reserves of coalbed methane could be recoverable using this method, according to industry experts."

http://www.bloombergviewpoints.com/2011/03/13/coalbed-methane-new-ways-to-produce

Title: Coalbed Methane Hot Water Injection Technology

Author: Energy Information Administration <eia.doe@mail.dot.gov> for Energy Information Administration <info@eia.doe.gov> on 2011-04-26T09:38:03Z [ARTICLE]

Coalbed methane, or coalbed gas, is natural gas contained within coal formations (i.e., a type of unconventional gas). Approximately 3,600 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves and 1,000 trillion cubic feet of possible reserves are located in the United States and Canada (EIA 2010a). The majority of these reserves are located in the Powder River and San Juan basins of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico (Figure 1).

Coalbed methane is produced from coal beds in three ways: (1) traditional coalbed methane production utilizes horizontal wells to extract natural gas from a coal seam; (2) water or CO2 injection techniques are used to stimulate production in uneconomic or poorly producing vertical wells; and (3) thermal fracturing techniques may be used to create new pathways for natural gas extraction. Traditional horizontal well production is the most common method of production, while water or CO2 injection is most commonly used to enhance vertical well production. Thermal fracturing is primarily used to produce coalbed methane in formations that are not amenable to horizontal drilling.

Coalbed methane production is the only proven commercial method that uses heat to release natural gas from coal seams, but it is not the only method of gathering coalbed methane. In fact, most of the natural gas associated with coal formations (approximately 70%) is extracted through traditional vertical or slant wells. Conventional well production from thick seams using horizontal drilling has been increasing in recent years as a result of advances in technology and economic incentives (see Domestic Natural Gas Production).

In 2010, about 53% of the coalbed methane produced nationally (Figure 2) came from conventional wells, 27% from thermal fracturing, and 20% from water or CO2 injection.

In the past five years, production of coalbed methane through thermal fracturing has increased substantially. In 2005 thermal fracturing accounted for 5% of total coalbed methane production; by 2008 that figure had increased to 15%, and by 2010 it had reached 22%. The largest increase occurred in New Mexico, where the percentage of total production derived from thermal fracturing jumped from 0 in 2005 to 77% in 2010. The next-largest increases were in Colorado (42%), Wyoming (27%), and Montana (22%).

Conclusion

While coalbed methane has a long history of production in the U.S., there have been no consistent trends in the past decade. Since 2003, production has held steady at about 46 billion cubic feet per year, while thermal fracturing, water injection and conventional well production have all increased significantly since 2005.

http://www.eia.doe.