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Abstract
Over the past 20 years, coalgas has evolved from a mining
nuisance to a robust industry that provides 7% of U.S. gas
production. The key to this growth has been the development
of new technologies to locate, quantify, and produce coalgas.
Over the next 20 years, additional technological advances will
be needed to identify new coalgas reservoirs and maximize
recoveries from existing ones.
Focus areas for these
technologies include reservoir characterization, drilling and
coring, wireline logging and well testing, completion and
stimulation, production and water disposal, and improved
recovery methods. This paper identifies some of the key
technology needs in each of these areas, reviews recent
innovations and showcases emerging technologies.
Introduction
From 1990 to 2000, U.S. gas production from unconventional
resources doubled from about 2 to 4 TCF. The biggest
component of this, not surprisingly, was coalgas. During the
decade of the 1990s, the number of coalgas wells in the U.S.
increased from 3,000 to 14,000, and their associated gas
production increased from 200 BSCF to 1.4 TSCF, which is
about 7% of total domestic gas production. Current forecasts
by the Department of Energy call for annual U.S. gas demand
to increase by 45% from the current value of 22 TCF to as
much 32 TCF by 2015. To help meet this demand,
unconventional gas production is expected to double again,
increasing from 4 to 8 TCF by 2015. Coalgas will undoubtedly
be a large part of this increase, and the Rocky Mountain
States, which contain about 80% of the countrys coalgas, will
be center stage.
Technology is obviously just one of the keys to increasing
coalgas growth. Sustained higher gas prices are needed to
provide companies with the incentives to invest in coalgas
opportunities. Expanded infrastructure is another key that can
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SPE 87358
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SPE 87358
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SPE 87358
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SPE 87358
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SPE 87358
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Geologists Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah (May 1114, 2003).
S. E. Richardson, D. C. Lawton and G. F. Margrave,
Seismic Applications in Coalbed Methane Exploration and
Development, Paper presented at the Canadian Society of
Petroleum Geologists and Canadian Society of Exploration
Geophysicists Convention, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (June
2-6, 2003).
G. Jin, J. C. Pashin and J. W. Payton, Application of
Discrete Fracture Network Models to Coalbed Methane
Reservoirs of the Black Warrior Basin, Paper presented at
the 2003 International Coalbed Methane Symposium,
Tuscaloosa, Alabama (May 5-9, 2003).
J. V. Fontana, J. H. Viellenave, A. Jacob and H. TerBest
Jr., Successful High Grading of Coal Bed Methane
Prospects with Soil Gas Geochemistry: A Test of Multiple
Methods over the Prairie Dog Creek Field in the Powder
River Basin, Wyoming, Paper presented at the 2002
American Association of Petroleum Geologists Rocky
Mountain Section Meeting, Laramie, Wyoming (September
8-11, 2002)
P. Roche, Drilling Technique Could Improve Economics
of Marginal Coalbed Methane Prospects, in: Nickles New
Technology Magazine, June 2002.
D. R. Wight, Unconventional Drilling Methods for
Unconventional Reservoirs, Paper presented at the
American Association of Petroleum Geologists MidContinent Section Meeting, Tulsa, Oklahoma (October 1214, 2003).
M. Smith, Below-the-Reservoir Extraction Touted as
Solution, in: Nickles New Technology Magazine,
November 2002.
S. Eaton, Conquering Foothills Challenges the Air Force,
in: Nickles New Technology Magazine, March 2002.
Advanced High Pressure Coiled Tubing Drilling System,
in: Office of Fossil Energy, United States Department of
Energy, Project Fact Sheet, Project ID: DE-FC2697FT33063.
Carbon Fiber Drill Pipe Performs Flawlessly in First Field
Test, in: Techline, Office of Fossil Energy, United States
Department of Energy, January 9, 2003.
IntelliPipeTM Technology: Wired for Speed and
Durability, in: Techline, Office of Fossil Energy, United
States Department of Energy, June 5, 2003.
P. Roche, Core Competency, in: Nickles New Technology
Magazine, December 2001.
N. Clayton, R. E. Lewis, S. L. Herron and J. A. Grau, Coal
Bed Methane Evaluation Using Advanced Borehole
Geophysical Logs, Paper presented at the Petroleum
Technology Transfer Council and Colorado Geological
Surveys Coalbed Methane Potential of the Denver Basin
Workshop, Denver, Colorado (September 28, 2001).
New Spectrometer Logging Tool, in: Petroleum
Technology Transfer Council, Rocky Mountain Region
Newsletter, 5, No. 3 (Third quarter, 2002) p. 3.
A. T. Rozak, R. M. Bustin, G. W. Strashok, A. Beaton, R.
Richardson, and T. Hunter, Application of LogFAC to
Coalbed Methane Exploration in Western Canada: A Case
History from Ardley Coals near Red Deer, Alberta, SPE
75676, Paper presented at the SPE Gas Technology
Symposium, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (April 30-May 2,
2002).
M. Ramurthy, D. M. Marjerisson and S. B. Davis,
Diagnostic Fracture Injection Test in Coals to Determine
Pore Pressure and Permeability, Paper presented at the
SPE 87358
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