Coalbed gas potential in the Pittsburgh-Huntington synclinorium, northern West Virginia

Conference · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:7272781

Patchen, D G; Schwietering, J F; Repine, T E; Avary, K I ^[1]

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1. West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown (United States)

The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (WVGES) received a subcontract from the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology to conduct a geologic evaluation of critical production parameters for coalbed methane resources in the northern Appalachian coal basin. The study area is a northeast-southwest-trending ellipse that coincides with the axis of the Pittsburgh-Huntington Synclinorium in north central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. Coalbed gas resources there have been estimated to be 61 bcf in previous work funded by the Gas Research institute. Data used in that study were mainly core descriptions and drillers' logs from coal exploration cores. The current research will integrate data from the WVGES' coal, oil and gas, and ground water databases to more carefully determine the number and thicknesses of coals below the Pittsburgh, and their hydrologic setting. Main objectives are to determine: the number of coals present; the geographic and stratigraphic positions of the thickest coals; locations of depocenters with stacked coals; the pressure regime of the area and geologic factors contributing to it; ground-water circulation patterns; and the presence of any potentiometric anomalies. Local and regional stratigraphic and structural cross sections and lithofacies and coal occurrence maps will be made for the coal-bearing interval below the Pittsburgh coal to show the distribution, structural attitude, and depositional systems. Regional and local control of structural elements, including fractures, on gas producibility from coalbeds will be determined. Gas and water production data will be collected from two small areas of current production and mapped and compared to maps of geologic parameters. The goal is to measure the effect on production of geologic parameters in these coalbed gas fields, and determine the locations of other 'sweet spots' in these coal beds.

• OSTI ID: 7272781
• Report Number(s): CONF-910403--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Journal Volume: 75:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
011000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030300 -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
ALKANES
COAL DEPOSITS
COAL SEAMS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROLOGY
METHANE
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PRODUCTION
RESERVES
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES
STRATIGRAPHY
USA
WATER
WEST VIRGINIA