Summary

A basin-scale exploration and development model for defining prolific and marginal coalbed methane production has been developed on the basis of more than a decade of research performed in the Rocky Mountain Foreland, Western United States. This exploration and development model is being applied to the evaluation of coalbed methane resources in remote Alaskan coal basins. Alaska's potential for coalbed methane resources may be as high as 1,000 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), but the actual number of methane-bearing coal basins and resources is still mostly unknown, and the extent and magnitude of producible gas remains untested.

By evaluating and prioritizing coalbed methane provinces and basins for the purpose of drilling and testing their potential as an alternative energy source (electrical power generation and home heating), remote Alaska's coalbed methane potential has been realized. On the basis of geologic and hydrologic criteria, the Northern Alaska Province (Colville Basin), Upper Yukon Province (Yukon Basin), and Alaska Peninsula Province (Chignik Basin) are considered of primary economic importance to making a contribution to the rural Alaskan gas supply. Detailed basin analysis of the North Slope has defined an exploration fairway along the western Colville Basin that may have the highest potential for coalbed methane productivity. The Yukon-Koyukuk Province (Kobuk, Upper Koyukuk, and Lower Koyukuk Basins) and Nenana Province (Minchumina Basin) are considered to have secondary economic importance. These remote basins lack sufficient information, particularly subsurface data, for determining their true coalbed methane potential.

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