Summary

Cretaceous and Tertiary strata in Rocky Mountain foreland basins in the US and Canada are very rich in coal and have significant potential for coal-bed methane (CBM). Due to special tax credits, the development of CBM resources in the United States grew considerably in the last decade such that now it accounts for more than 5% of the US natural gas production. In Canada, abundant coal resources are found in the Alberta basin. Resource estimates for CBM in the Alberta basin vary between 300 and 540 Tcf. However, unlike in the US, coal-bed methane is not currently produced because of the abundance and better economics of exploiting other hydrocarbon resources. Coal-bed methane producibility depends in an interrelated manner on geological factors. on coal properties and on the hydrogeology of formation waters in coal-bearing strata. The regional-scale characteristics of CBM reservoirs in the Alberta basin are examined in the context of CBM producibility and compared with other Rocky Mountain sedimentary basins.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah