Producing Coalbed Methane at High Rates at Low Pressures

Abstract

In the highly productive Coal Bed Methane (CBM) “Fairway” area of the San Juan Basin of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado, traditional reservoir-evaluation methods have failed to approximate production levels. The reservoir seems to have the potential to produce gas at nearly the same rates at reservoir pressures of under 100 psia as it had at 1,500-1,800 psia. This observation has a significant impact on the economics of late-life investments, on the design of wellbores, on well site equipment, and on pipelines. A nontraditional approach was taken to evaluate the long-term impacts of a mix of these interventions. This mix of interventions was taken and the analysis was generally a fair indicator of specific-well response to the proposed actions.