ATLAS OF COAL GEOLOGY

Volume I

COAL G EOLOGY
EXPLORATION, MINING, AND
COALBED METHANE
OVERVIEW OF COALBED METHANE
D. Keith Murray
The exploration for and development of coalbed methane (CBM), more accurately termed coalbed
gas, requires a thorough understanding of the geology of both coal and petroleum, together with
many aspects of mining and reservoir engineering. Furthermore, the geology of the entire coalbearing sequence(s) in an area of interest should be evaluated carefully. This evaluation should
include any contributions by structural features and other lithological units that may be capable of
storing volumes of coal-generated hydrocarbons.
Exploration studies should address such topics as 1) the physical and chemical nature of the
coal (rank, chemistry, depositional environment, diagenesis, mineralization, etc.), 2) the thermal
history and hydrodynamics of the region of interest, 3) composite thickness of the coal seams and
of the overburden, 4) geologic structure and tectonic features, such as fracture patterns and igneous
units, 5) coalbed gas desorption data in the study area, and 6) a petrographic analysis of available
coal cores and well cuttings.
Coal is the most abundant mineral fuel in the world,
with total in-place resources estimated to be as high as 27
trillion tonnes (Picture 1). More than 90% of this immense
resource is found in the Northern Hemisphere, and nearly
80% is bituminous or higher in rank (hard coal). It is
estimated that the energy content of the worlds known
resources of coal is equivalent to more than 40 trillion
barrels of oil. The future for CBM development appears to
be promising (Howell, 1993).

Significance Of Coal and Coalbed Gas

Picture 1
World coal distribution showing known and
inferred coal deposits.

Coal is a very complex substance (VanKrevelen, 1961).

Instead of being a solid material, as is commonly
believed, it is an intermixture of matrix and occluded molecular constituents. It is a fuel, an organic
sediment, a rock, an accumulation of plant debris, a solid colloid, and an organic chemical
substance.
Coal is one of the richest sources of hydrocarbons, high in humic kerogenous organic matter.
It constitutes both a source and a reservoir of hydrocarbons. Coalbed gas consists of methane
(typically 95% or more), occasionally with some heavier organic fractions and, in certain cases,

1998 Energy Minerals Division, AAPG

Atlas of Coal Geology Vol. 1 Overview of Coalbed Methane

carbon dioxide (10-15%). Some coals in the San Juan Basin (United States), Australia, and China,
for example, produce a waxy oil or condensate. Depending on the rank of the coal, the generated
gas can be either biogenic (typical of low-rank coal), thermogenic, or a mixture of both. Coalbed
gas is free of sulfur and generally of pipeline quality.
The absorbed gas is packed within the coal structure so tightly that it possesses some
characteristics of a liquid. The entrapped gases easily volatilize in-situ when the ambient
reservoir pressure is reduced (Levine, 1991).
Coal can behave as a crosslinked rubber, flexing as it sorbs or desorbs water and methane
and behaving as a selective sorbent. Coal deforms when stressed, and it can swell to nearly double
its original volume when it absorbs certain solvents (Levine, 1991).
The gases generated from coal are byproducts of coalification, which is defined as the process
by which vegetal material progressively evolves from peat to lignite to subbituminous, bituminous,
and anthracite coal. The peat-forming process involves biochemical reactions (diagenesis);
bituminous and higher rank coals pass through a geochemical (thermogenic and catagenic) stage.
The thermal maturation, or metamorphism, of humic kerogenous organic matter (largely oxygenrich lignin and cellulose) results in a progressive
devolatization of the kerogen in the coal, together with an
increase in carbon content, decrease in moisture content,
increase in calorific value and in percent vitrinite
reflectance, increase in the degree of molecular ordering,
and a marked increase in thermally generated methane
(Murray, 1990 and 1991).
The gases so generated are stored in high
concentrations in both the coal and the associated
sediments after the gas-expulsion point in the coal has been
attained. Volume-for-volume, high-rank coals are capable
of storing as much as three to four times as much gas as
are porous sandstone reservoirs under similar conditions,
due to the extremely high internal surface areas of coal,
which can be as high as 0.09-0.19 million m2 /kg (1.5-2
million ft2 /lb) (Picture 2).

Picture 2
Illustration comparing the structural
elements of conventional gas sand and coal
seam reservoirs.

Coalification, Generation of Gases, and Gas Storage

Not all of the methane generated during the coalification process migrates, or is expelled, out of
coal seams. Coal has the capacity to retain, store, or absorb methane in varying amounts. Methane
storage is achieved by two primary methods: 1) in the microporosity system, wherein the gas is
absorbed within or adsorbed upon the molecular structure of the kerogen in the coal, as well as in
the micropores; and 2) in the macroporosity system, by conventional volume storage within the
cleats or fractures that almost always are present in the coal (Meissner, 1984). The retention of
methane in coal also can be expressed as follows: 1) as sorbed molecules on the internal surfaces
or within the molecular structure of the coal, 2) as gas trapped within the matrix (macro- or micro-)
porosity, which typically occurs in the 5 angstroms to 500 angstroms-plus size range, 3) as free
gas within the cleat and fracture systems, and 4) as gas dissolved in the free water that may exist in
the cleats and fractures (Choate et al., 1986). The volumes of methane that can be stored by

1998 Energy Minerals Division, AAPG

Atlas of Coal Geology Vol. 1 Overview of Coalbed Methane

molecular absorption and in the microporosity system are determined by coal rank, reservoir
temperature, and reservoir pressure (Meissner, 1984).
It is important to note that lower-rank coals, those below medium-volatile bituminous rank, are
characterized by having gas storage capacity beyond that of generation. Furthermore, expulsion of
methane takes place at the point at which generation exceeds storage capacity under conditions of
constant temperature and pressure. It can be seen, then, that methane in coals presents problems
and paradoxes that are not found in more conventional reservoir rocks. For example, 0.03 m3
(1 ft3 ) of sandstone having 15% porosity and 75% gas saturation, at a depth of 760 m (2,500 ft.),
can hold 0.24 m3 (8.4 scf) of gas, whereas the same volume of medium-volatile bituminous coal at
the same depth can store 0.62 m3 (22 scf) of gas or 2.6 times as much. This phenomenon is in part
due to the unique molecular structure of coal, wherein the micropore system appears to behave as a
molecular sieve, or as a clathrate cage (analogous to the structure of zeolite minerals), in which
methane molecules are nested within benzene rings. Another problem involves the dynamic nature
of an accumulation of coal-derived methane which results from the ability of coal to act both 1) as a
gas-generating machine, which together with contiguous sandstone reservoir beds contain the
critical indigenous elements of source, migration paths, and traps (Meissner, 1984), and 2) as an
absorbing sponge. Under conditions of thermal heating, coals may continue to generate methane,
expelling it into the surrounding sediments when the total storage capacity of the coal has been
exceeded. On the other hand, in basins undergoing thermal cooling, the coals will tend to reabsorb,
from the surrounding clastic reservoirs, the gas that the coal seams originally generated as their
storage capacity is increased during the cooling phase. The thermal heating/high volume gas
generation and cooling/gas reabsorption processes can result in overpressured and underpressured
gas accumulations, respectively, which are common in many of the coal-bearing Rocky Mountain
basins.
Gas produced directly from coal seams is almost always of pipeline quality, being composed of
approximately 90% to 95% methane in most instances, with minor amounts of heavier
hydrocarbons, CO2 , N 2 , O2 , H 2 , and He. Analyses of gases recovered from certain relatively deep
(greater than 1,520 m (5,000 ft)), high-rank coals have indicated that the presence of H2 S and
other sulfur compounds in coalbed gas is virtually unknown, even from high-sulfur coals.
The composition, volumes, and liberation rates of hydrocarbons generated by the coalification
process appear basically to be a function of the relative abundance of the various macerals,
(vitrinite, alginite, exinite, etc.) that are found in coals. Macerals are microscopic components of
coal and consist of the remains of the original plant material (Ulery, 1984) (see Volume 2).
Additionally, the level of thermal alteration has a decided effect upon the composition of the
hydrocarbons generated by terrestrial (Type III) organic matter. There is good evidence that
autochthonous generation of hydrocarbons may, in some situations, occur at lower levels of
thermal maturity (i.e., at vitrinite reflectance levels of less than 0.6% Ro max) than generally
believed (Snowdon and Powell, 1982).

1998 Energy Minerals Division, AAPG

Atlas of Coal Geology Vol. 1 Overview of Coalbed Methane

Assessment of Resources of Coalbed Gas

The exploration for and assessment of accumulations of coalbed gas are discussed in some detail in
published reports (Choate et al., 1986; Mavor et al., 1995 and 1996; Scott et al., 1995; and Moore,
1996). Critical factors involved in economic production of coalbed gas include the following
(Moore, 1996):

Coal petrology
Internal formation stratigraphy
Hydrogeology
Initial reservoir pressure

Gas content of the coal reservoir

Distribution of fractures and cleats
In-situ stress conditions
Amount of free gas saturation

Production of Coalbed Gas

The production of gas from coal beds, unlike in-situ gasification techniques, is non-destructive to
the coal. Furthermore, coalbed methane is high in heating value, generally between approximately
18,630-20,580 kcal/m3 (950-1,050 Btu/scf) (pure methane has a heating value of 19,840 kcal/m3
(1,012 Btu/scf) at 15C (60 F) and atmospheric pressure). Conversely, gas produced from the insitu gasification of coal is low in heat content, typically in the range of 2,940- 5,880 kcal/m3 (150300 Btu/scf).
Absorbed gas is stored in the matrix, or micropores, of the coal and desorbs and diffuses
through the coal at a rate governed by the diffusion process described by Ficks Law or by other
diffusion models, the driving force being a concentration
gradient. Once the gas has migrated into the larger pores
and into the cleat and fracture system, it then will flow into
the wellbore (or mine) according to Darcys Law, being
driven by the pressure gradient. These two types of mass
transport are interdependent. The majority of coal
reservoirs are at essentially hydrostatic pressure, and they
depend on a system of fractures and cleats for most of their
permeability (Picture 3). The relative permeabilities to both
gas and water are critical to the initial production of
methane from coal reservoirs. In water-saturated coals,
water must be removed (usually by pumping) in order to
disturb the equilibrium that exists between the methane
Picture 3
absorbed within the micropores and that existing in the
Illustration of coalbed gas recovery by
fracture system (Picture 4). Once a pressure gradient has
been established, methane will first diffuse into the fracture reservoir pressure depletion (after Puri and
system and then from the fractures into the wellbore,
Yee, 1990).
where the pressure has been lowered to less than
hydrostatic. Ultimately, the productivity of a CBM well is
dependent largely upon the ability to lower reservoir pressure and water saturation (if present) in
the coal reservoir. A multiwell pattern is necessary in order to create drainage boundaries or areas
of interference. Kissell and Edwards (1975) have demonstrated that by lowering the water
saturation in the fractures and cleats in the coal, the effective permeability to gas is increased (i.e.,
more space is made available to the gas phase), resulting in an increasing rate of gas production
and a corresponding decrease in rate of water production. Such negative declines have been
observed in a number of coalbed methane wells in productive areas such as the San Juan and Black
Warrior basins of the United States.

1998 Energy Minerals Division, AAPG

Atlas of Coal Geology Vol. 1 Overview of Coalbed Methane

Most of the coalbed gas production in the world comes from several fields in the United States,
which totals more than 28.3 million m3 (1 TCFG) annually from some 6,000 wells, or more than
5% of the total U.S. dry gas production (Pictures 5 and 6). More than 80% of the total CBM
production in the United States comes from the San Juan Basin of Colorado and New Mexico
(Murray and Schwochow, 1997) (Picture 7).
In the international arena, encouraging volumes of CBM, which may be considered to be of
commercial size are being reported from several areas in China and Australia (Cairn Point
Publishing, Inc., 1997).

Picture 7
Flaring CBM well at approximately 10 MMcfd after cavitated
completion in the San Juan Basin, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico.

New Technologies in Coalbed Gas Development

Murray and Schwochow (1997) summarizes the positive effect of new technological advances on
growing CBM development in the United States. The following are some of the new innovative
technologies currently being employed in the United States, especially in the Rocky Mountain
region:
1)

Productivity Improvement Program (PIP), which uses

reliable, low-cost diagnostic tools and methods to determine
factors involved in poor performance of CBM wells (due to
such factors as poor connectivity of the coal reservoir to the
wellbore).

2)

Dynamic Open Hole (cavitation) completions, in which the

coal reservoirs are encouraged to slough into the wellbore,
thereby creating numerous fractures that, hopefully, will link
the wellbore to the reservoir.

3)

Enhanced Coalbed Methane (ECBM) Recovery, a process

patented by Amoco, that uses an inert gas such as nitrogen to
inject into the coal reservoir to strip a high percentage
(perhaps 85% or more) of the methane from the reservoir
(Picture 8).

1998 Energy Minerals Division, AAPG

Picture 8
Illustration of enhanced coalbed
gas recovery by nitrogen injection
(after Puri and Yee, 1990).

Atlas of Coal Geology Vol. 1 Overview of Coalbed Methane

4)

Production of CBM from shallow underpressured coal reservoirs characterized by low in-situ
gas contents (less than 4.7 m3 /tonne (150 scf/ton)) and relatively low rank (high-volatile B
bituminous). Burlington Resources Oil and Gas Company has completed more than 160
CBM wells roughly 48 km (30 miles) south of the overpressured Fruitland Formation
coalbed fairway, in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico.

5)

Seismic characterization of fractured coal reservoirs was initiated in the Department of

Geophysics at Colorado School of Mines in 1984. This innovative project showed that three
dimensional multi-component seismic data can be used to directly map permeability
anisotropy in a fractured reservoir, including coal.

6)

Dynamic tectonic modeling has shown that recurrent basement faulting is the primary
controlling mechanism for the alignment and compartmentalization of certain continuoustype gas reservoirs.

7)

Improved understanding of the permeability of coal reservoirs has led to the observation that
the matrix volume of coal shrinks when occluded gases desorb from its microstructure,
resulting in an increase in permeability.

8)

Commercial CBM production from low-rank coals (thick, shallow, subbituminous coals in
the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana) currently are being developed on a large
scale in the northern and northeastern parts of the basin. Beds of subbituminous coal up to
approximately 60 m (200 ft) thick in the upper part of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene)
are producing at initial rates as high as 8.5- 14 Mm3 /d (300-500 Mcfd) from depths mostly
less than 150 m (500 ft).

9)

Basin-scale CMB producibility models, developed by scientists at the Texas Bureau of

Economic Geology, have been applied to Rocky Mountain basins that include the San Juan,
Greater Green River and Piceance basins. They have demonstrated that dynamic interaction
among geologic and hydrologic controls and their spatial relations determine producibility of
a coal reservoir. These controls include gas content, coal rank, reservoir permeability,
hydrodynamics, depositional systems and coal distribution, and the tectonic and structural
settings of the coal basins (Scott et al., 1995).

10) Improved understanding of the gas content of coal beds, both in-situ content and storage
capacity, is very important in evaluating CBM projects. Important papers by Mavor et al.
(1995 and 1996) quantitatively evaluate the accuracy of estimates of gas content of coal
seams.

1998 Energy Minerals Division, AAPG