Saga of coal bed methane, Ignacio Blanco gas field, Colorado
- South Ute Indian Tribe, Ignacio, CO (USA)
Prior to the 1977 discovery of the Cedar Hill Basal Fruitland pool (the first officially designated coal-bed methane field in the western US) 28.5 bcf of gas had been produced from Fruitland Formation coal seams in the Ignacio Blanco Fruitland-Pictured Cliffs field, Northern San Juan basin, Colorado. The discovery well for the field, Southern Ute D-1, was drilled and completed in 1951 on the Ignacio anticline, La Plata County, Colorado. Initial completion was attempted in the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone. The well was plugged back after making water from the Pictured Cliffs and was completed in the lower coal-bearing section of the Fruitland Formation. The well produced 487,333 mcf of gas in nine years and was abandoned in 1959 due to water encroachment. Additionally, 52 similarly completed Ignacio anticline Fruitland wells were abandoned by the early 1970s due to the nemesis of If it's starting to kick water, you're through. Under today's coal-bed methane technology and economics, Amoco has twinned 12 of the abandoned wells, drilled five additional wells, and is successfully dewatering and producing adsorbed methane from previously depleted coal sections of the Ignacio structure. Field-wide drilling activity in 1988 exceeded all previous annual levels, with coal-seam degasification projects leading the resurgence. Drilling and completion forecasts for 1989 surpass 1988 levels by 50%.
- OSTI ID:
- 5659856
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8910195-; CODEN: AABUD
- Journal Information:
- AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA), Vol. 73:9; Conference: AAPG Rocky Mountain Section meeting, Albuquerque, NM (USA), 1-4 Oct 1989; ISSN 0149-1423
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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