Coalbed methane potential in the Appalachian states of Pennsylvania,West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee--An overview

Paul C. Lyons¹
Open-File Report 96-735

This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature.
¹U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 20192

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract
Introduction
Legal, economic, and environmental constraints
Coalbed methane fields
Coalbed methane stratigraphy
Depths to coal beds and coalification
Cleats in Appalachian coal beds
CBM composition and desorption data
Appalachian CBM production data
Potential for undiscovered CBM
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References cited

Table 1. Coalbed methane production (Mcf) by state, northern and central Appalachian basin, Cahaba coal field, Black Warrior Basin (Alabama)

Figures

• Figure l. Map of part of southwestern Virginia showing coalbed methane fields in the central Appalachian basin. After Nolde (1995) and Cardwell and Avary (1982).
• Figure 2. Map of northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania showing coalbed methane fields and pools in the northern Appalachian basin. After Bruner et al. (1995).
• Figure 3. Stratigraphy of coalbed methane beds (bold) in the central and northern Appalachian basin. Scale, thickness and correlations of beds and units in the central and northern Appalachian basin are not implied. Other selected coal beds (not bold) are shown for stratigraphic reference.
• Figure 4. Number of new coalbed methane wells in production in Virginia.
• Figure 5. Annual coalbed methane production in Virginia (Bcf). Data from Nolde (1995); Jack Nolde, Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, personal commun., April, 1996.
• Figure 6. Annual production (estimate) of coalbed methane in central and northern Appalachian basin. This report.
• Figure 7. Comparison of coalbed methane production in the central and northern Appalachian basin with that of the Black Warrior basin. Note that the Black Warrior basin has reached production maturity, and the central and northern Appalachian basin began significant production on 1992 and, therefore, is a frontier area for coalbed methane development.
• Figure 8. Technically recoverable cabled methane in the Appalachian region (map modified from Rogers, 1994; data from Rice, 1995).

Created by the EERT WWW Staff.