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Coalbed Methane Resources in USA and Europe |
D. Keith Murray & Associates, Inc., 200 Union Boulevard, Suite 215, Lakewood, CO 80228-1830, USA
Preliminary estimates of coalbed gas in the major coal-bearing basins of the world range from approximately 3000 trillion cubic feet (TCF) to more than 12000 TCF (85-340 trillion cubic metres, TCM). The successful development of this important energy resource will largely depend on the judicious transfer of the coalbed methane (CBM) technology developed in the USA during the past two decades. Innovative field research has been conducted primarily in the San Juan and Black Warrior basins. Projects have involved co-operative efforts between the Gas Research Institute, federal and state geological surveys, academia, both large and small oil companies and private consultants. As a result, significant improvements have been made in many aspects of CBM technology, including: (1) dynamic openhole cavitation completions; (2) advanced hydraulic stimulation procedures; (3) enhanced ultimate coalbed gas recovery using the injection of nitrogen or carbon dioxide into the coalbed reservoir; (4) improved reservoir simulation parametric techniques; and (5) seismic methods to predict areas of optimum reservoir permeability. The appropriate applications of this rapidly developing technology to the complex and varied conditions that exist in other coal-bearing basins throughout the world is expected to lessen significantly the risks inherent in the successful commercialization of coalbed gas in a number of countries.
