Appalachian basin coal-bed methane: Elephant or flea

Conference · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:5677358

Hunt, A M ^[1]

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1. Dames and Moore, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

Historically, interest in the Appalachian basin coal-bed methane resource extends at least over the last 50 years. The Northern and Central Appalachian basins are estimated to contain 61 tcf and 5 tcf of coal-bed methane gas, respectively. Development of this resource has not kept pace with that of other basins, such as the Black Warrior basin of Alabama of the San Juan basin of northern New Mexico and Colorado. Without the benefit of modern completion, stimulation, and production technology, some older Appalachian basin coal-bed methane wells were reported to have produced in excess of 150 used here to characterize some past projects and their results. This work is not intended to comprise a comprehensive survey of all Appalachian basin projects, but rather to provide background information from which to proceed for those who may be interested in doing so. Several constraints to the development of this resource have been identified, including conflicting legal rights of ownership of the gas produced from the coal seams when coal and conventional oil and gas rights are controlled by separate parties. In addition, large leaseholds have been difficult to acquire and finding costs have been high. However, the threshold of minimum economic production may be relatively low when compared with other areas, because low-pressures pipelines are available and gas prices are among the highest in the nation. Interest in the commercial development of the resource seems to be on the increase with several projects currently active and more reported to be planned for the near future.

• OSTI ID: 5677358
• Report Number(s): CONF-9109238--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Journal Volume: 75:8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030200* -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ALKANES
APPALACHIAN BASIN
COAL DEPOSITS
COAL SEAMS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
HYDROCARBONS
METHANE
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PRODUCTION
RESERVES
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCE POTENTIAL
RESOURCES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS