TY  - BOOK
AU  - Loftin,Philip
ED  - World Gas Conference (24th. : 2009 oct 5-9 : Buenos Aires, Argentina)
TI  - THIRTY YEARS OF LESSONS LEARNED - TIPS AND TRICKS FOR FINDING, DEVELOPING AND OPERATING A COALBED METHANE FIELD
N1  - Trabajo presentado en el 24 WGC. Disponible en CD en la biblioteca. Solicite este trabajo por email a biblio@iapg.org.ar
N2  - Coalbed Methane (CBM) has been developed and operated by BP in the San Juan Basin of the United States since 1977. This development pioneered the CBM business by initiating the first commercial CBM field in the world. These 30 years of operation represent a significant learning opportunity and during this time we have accumulated numerous lessons about finding, developing and operating CBM fields. This paper is by no means a highly technical dissertation on CBM. Rather, it is intended as a high-level discussion where the lessons we have learned can be compiled and shared. A common theme throughout will be a comparison between CBM and "conventional" gas fields, highlighting both the similarities and the differences, identifying the source of those differences and examining the impacts those differences will introduce into the exploration and production process. There are many similarities between a CBM field and a conventional gas field. On the surface, they can be indistinguishable from each other, with subtle differences that only an expert might discern. Many of the same methods used in conventional oil and gas are used to find, develop and operate CBM fields. One might travel past similar looking surface production equipment and even peer into a wellbore without noticing anything unusual. However, as one leaves the wellbore and enters the reservoir, it quickly becomes apparent that there are fundamental differences between coal and the rocks that typically make up conventional reservoirs. These differences provide coal with several unique properties, which in turn impact all aspects of the CBM business, from exploration through field development and production
ER  -