CBM Exploration & Production

Introduction: Out of total energy consumption, share of gas is only 8% in India when compared to the world average of 23%. The gas demand is predicted to be more than ten times by 2020. This demand of natural gas would require large imports as our conventional resources are unlikely to meet such demand. India is endowed with huge coal resource with high CBM potential. To partially bridge ever increasing gas demand CBM, therefore, has been identified as a priority supplement The Top most benefit of CBM us that Methane is a clean fuel. Also, Taking out methane from coal reduces mining hazards. De-methanisation of coal seams prior to mining increases mine safety and improves productivity. CBM extraction does not affect the physico-chemical properties of coal. CBM has distinct advantage over coal on environmental and quality aspects. Methane recovered from coal mines not only significantly reduces the green house gas emission but also substitutes for fuel. It costs a fraction to drill a CBM well compared to a conventional one. A number of CBM Projects earlier world over were marginal in technoeconomics, being front loaded Capital intensive. However, ever increasing crude oil price & gas price along with improved technology has made CBM projects attractive presently.

What is CBM?: Coalbed Methane (CBM) is a generic term, coined in the USA, for the methane rich gas originating in coal-seams. Now a day in industry CBM is classified in three main categories: Coal-mine methane (CMM) Abandoned mine methane(AMM) Virgin Coalbed methane(VCBM)

Worldwide case histories reveal that generally CMM and AMM are the activity area for mining industries and VCBM is the area of activity for natural gas industries. The host and reservoir rock for CBM, as name reflects, is coal. As far as coal resources are concerned, Russia is having maximum resources of the order of 6500 Billion tons, followed by China, USA, Australia, Canada and India.

Indias coal resources are estimated to be 210 Billion Tons, most of the coal being of Gondwana age. The CBM resources of India are estimated of the order of 0.8-1.5 TCM when compared to 114 TCM of Russia, 32 TCM of China and 12 TCM of USA. World over USA is considered a role model country for CBM production where commercial production of CBM has been going on since early eighties. Today more than 15000 CBM wells have been drilled in USA and CBM production is of the order of 30-35 BCM per annum, about 12 to 15 % of its total gas production. The host rock of CBM i.e. coal is defined as a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock whose composition, including inherent moisture, consists of more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over Geologic Time. In Trade, Industry & Legal Matters Coal is regarded as a Mineral or as a principal Mineral Fuel, occurring abundantly in the earths crust and itself is an important primary source of Heat Energy. However, geologically it is a Rock as It is a solid substance, forming one of the units of earths crust. It cannot be strictly considered as a mineral as it is not homogeneous substance; it is not inorganic in origin and does not have a definite chemical composition. Coal is classified based on level of organic matter, source material and level of metamorphism. The Grade represents the relative percentage of organic to mineral components, Type represents the various organic constituents and Rank represents the level of maturation reached through metamorphism, ranging from peat to anthracite. Generation & Storage of CBM: Methane in coals is formed naturally during coalification process and is generated either by bacterial action or thermal reaction .During the process of coalification plant remains decay to carbon-dioxide and water by fungal and bacterial action in oxygenated environment. Under prolonged anaerobic conditions some plant biopolymers selectively get degraded and escape complete destruction- thereby accumulating into peat. Prolonged burial, increase in temperature & pressure results additional changes in peat leading to formation of coal with increasing rank. Generation of large amount of methane takes place during HV A-Bituminus to LV-Bituminus coal stage and Methane adsorbed/retained within coalbed due to prevailing high pressures is called Coalbed Methane (CBM). It exists as monomolecular layer within the micro-pores of the coal. Coal acts as both source and reservoir for CBM.

Production of CBM from Coal: Thus, in order to produce CBM, it is very essential to de-pressurize the reservoir so that methane de-sorption takes place. In case of VCBM, in which wells are to be drilled to produce CBM, this is achieved through de-watering i.e. producing water from the coal formation. De-watering and CBM production is usually done from the same well. As de-watering takes place, water from the coal formation flows out through the well under Darcys Law. The pressure differential thus created causes de-sorption of the gas to take place from the coal surface and also flow towards the well. As the de-sorption takes place, gas from internal structure moves towards coal surface for further de-sorption through diffusion process. Coal exhibits typical example of dual porosity system, where both the systems (cleats and matrix) have comparable porosity values. Presence of fractures has tremendous effects on permeability in stead of porosity. Porosity varies with rank of the coal, minimum being at low volatile bituminous stage, then increasing as additional volatiles are lost and pore space is left open. Matrix porosity largely determines the ability of the coal to retain methane, whereas the fracture porosity leads to permeability for flow of water and gas as well as provides place for free gas, if any. Permeability is the most significant petrophysical parameter in coals as it is a pre-requisite for economic gas flow rates. Though dual porosity behaviour of the coal results into dual permeability, still these are considered as single permeability reservoirs for all practical purposes as Darcy flow takes place only in fractures and not in the matrix. Apart from secondary fractures, cleats are the chief source of permeability in coals; their frequency (number per cm.) and openness determining the permeability value. Mineral fillings in coals lead to low permeability. (E.g. Western part of Black Worrier Basin, Parts of Bowen Basin, Australia etc.). Common mineral are calcite, pyrite, gypsum, kaolinite and illite. The prevailing pressure regime plays a very important role in permeability of coal; extensional regime being the best. For de-watering and depressurization, ability of coal to produce water through interconnected fractures is the foremost requirement. These pathways are provided by cleats and other secondary fractures in the coal. Cleat is a miners term for the natural system of regularly spaced vertical fractures through out the coal formation which have been formed as a result of coalification process during which de-volatization takes place. Typically, the cleat system in coal comprises two or more sets of sub parallel fractures oriented nearly perpendicular to the bedding plane. The set of dominant fractures is called the Face Cleat, It is persistent and planer. The other less dominant set of fractures, which is discontinuous and non-planer is Butt

Cleat. Butt cleats commonly terminate against the Face cleat. Cleats are the chief reason of porosity and permeability in coals. Cleat spacing is a function of rank, petrographic composition, mineral matter content, bed thickness and tectonic history. For a given rank, closer cleat spacing is found in vitrinite rich bright coals, lesser mineral matter and thinner beds. The second pre-requirement for a techno-economic feasible CBM venture, apart from permeability of cola formation, is sufficient saturation of coal with methane gas. The pressure at which de-sorption of gas commences, is called Critical De-sorption Pressure (CDP). If the coal is saturated sufficiently, gas de-sorption takes place quickly with little de-watering and little depressurization. CBM Exploration by ONGC: Total coal resource: 248 billion tons. Gondwana Basins contribute about 99% of it. Damodar Valley Coalfields contribute 50% of this resource and these are the primary target for CBM Exploration. Estimated CBM resource of the country is of the order of 1.0 to 3.0 TCM. ONGCs preliminary assessment indicates 4 Damodar Valley Coalfields viz. Jharia, Bokaro, North Karanpura and Raniganj are the most prospective with favourable CBN specific parameters. ONGCs efforts in CBM exploration started in the year 1992 when it made initial assessment of all Indian coal basins for CBM exploration. As per this assessment As per this assessment, Gondwana coals emerged as the most prospective candidates for CBM exploitation. All Indian coal basins were categorized into four groups. The category-I included Jharia, Bokaro, North Karanpura and Raniganj whereas category-II included South Karanpura, Kobra, Ib River, Talchir, Rajmahal and Pench Kanhan. In 1995-96, ONGC drilled 2 R&D CBM wells in Duirgapur area of Raniganj coal field in which marginal prospectivity was inferred. Then as per prioritization of Indian coal basins, attention was shifted to Parbatpur area in Jharia coal field. In 1997, 1st R&D well in this field flowed CBM at surface, thereby establishing CBM producibility of Barakar coals. During 1998 to 2000 ONGC drilled 3 more R&D wells in the same area of Jharia field and all these wells produced CBM from different coal seams. During this period ONGC also drilled a number of bore holes in Bokaro, Raniganj and North Karanpura fields to assess CBM prospectivity. Highly encouraged by ONGCs successful efforts in Jharia, Government of India commenced awarding CBM blocks under its CBM policy in 2001. Jharia and Raniganj Blocks were awarded to ONGC-CIL consortium on nomination basis whereas Bokaro and North Karanpura Blocks were grabbed by ONGCIOC consortium in Round-I under competitive bidding. Then in the year 2003,

under Rond-II, ONGC was further awarded 5 more blocks which included South Karanpura, North Karanpura (West), Wardha, Barmer-Sanchor and Satpura. In Round-III and Round-IV, which has concluded recently, ONGC did not get any block. Thus, till date, ONGC has been awarded 9 Blocks. Out of these 9 blocks, ONGC has already relinquished 4 blocks due to poor prospectivity found during the exploration phase- Wardha, Satpura, BarmerSanchor and North Karanpura (West). Thus, presently, ONGC,s physical CBM activities are confined to rest of 5 blocks- Jharia, Bokaro, North Karanpura, South Karanpura and Raniganj. The biggest technical challenge emerging for ONGC in CBM exploitation from Gondwana coal fields of Damodar Valley is low permeability. All the efforts are being made to overcome this factor through adoption of state of the art drilling and completion technology. Stimulation in vertical wells through hydrofracturing, under-balanced drilling and multilateral horizontal drilling are some of the techniques presently being practiced in all the fields for CBM production at commercial level.