--> Abstract: Coal Geology And Underground-Mine Degasification Applied To Horizontal Drilling For Coal-Bed Methane, by S. A. Friedman; #90921 (1999).
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FRIEDMAN, SAMUEL A.
Oklahoma Geological Survey, Norman, OK

Abstract: Previous HitCoalNext Hit Geology And Underground-Mine Degasification Applied To Horizontal Drilling For Previous HitCoalNext Hit-Bed Methane

In eastern Oklahoma's Arkoma Basin in 1998 at least three energy companies drilled Previous HitcoalNext Hit-bed methane wells 700-2,000 feet deep that eventually penetrated 700-800 feet horizontally into the 4-6-feet-thick Hartshorne Previous HitcoalNext Hit, but also drilled through shale, mudstone, and interlaminated shale and sandstone. Those well segments in shale and mudstone may collapse, leading to well abandonment. Obviously Previous HitcoalNext Hit will not be penetrated if the bit drifts into strata overlying or underlying the Previous HitcoalNext Hit bed. Previous HitCoalNext Hit may be missing if the bit intersects a normal fault, a thick non-Previous HitcoalNext Hit parting, or a channel-fill sandstone.

Previous HitCoalNext Hit geology studies, including Previous HitcoalNext Hit characterization before drilling begins, should help in lease selection and hold down costs. Also data should be tabulated and maps constructed showing net Previous HitcoalNext Hit-bed thickness, cleat frequency and orientation, coalbed structural contours, faults and secondary Previous HitcoalNext Hit fractures, cleat-filling minerals, Previous HitcoalNext Hit-rank isocarbs, inherent moisture, vitrinite reflectance, and lithology of strata overlying or underlying the Previous HitcoalNext Hit bed. Most of these items, in addition to the laws of gas movement, affect or control the permeability and porosity of the Previous HitcoalNext Hit-bed methane reservoir and the flow of gas to the well.

Twenty-three horizontal, open-hole, experimental boreholes, 300-2,200 feet long, were drilled by a Previous HitcoalNext Hit company into the 4-feet-thick Hartshorne Previous HitcoalNext Hit in an underground mine in Oklahoma in the middle 1970s, removing great quantities of 97 percent methane gas without hydraulic fracturing.

Therefore, detailed geological evaluation combined with information from the history of horizontal drilling to drain gas from Previous HitcoalNext Hit beds in underground mines, should be applied to maximize success in Previous HitcoalTop-bed methane drilling, production, and profit.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90921©1999 AAPG Mid-Continent Section Meeting, Wichita, Kansas