Exploration for Coal Bed Methane in the Greater Nama-Kalahari Basin of Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe

Piperi, Theodhora ¹; Luzzi-Arbouille, Tiziana ¹; Ehlers-Fliege, Brigitte ¹; Zine, Mohamed ¹
(1)IHS Global SA, Geneva, Switzerland.

The increasing local and global demand for energy has given a new impulse to the gas exploration in Africa. There has been a growing interest in the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) potential as an unconventional gas sourced from coal seams. The Greater Nama-Kalahari Basin hosts large amount of coals in the Permian Ecca Group (Karoo Sequence), which is currently the focus for CBM exploration in eastern Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Extensive laboratory analyses of coal samples in Botswana and Zimbabwe indicate that the reservoir characteristics, gas content and gas saturation are comparable to the USA basins where CBM is commercial, and economic analyses indicate a reasonable proposition. Since 2000, a large number of contracts for CBM exploration have been awarded in the Greater Nama-Kalahari Basin. Some operating companies are at an early reconnaissance phase that involves continuous acquisition of geological information and drilling in order to build a regional geological model of the areas and assess the CBM potential; some have displayed plans and projects to prove, validate and certify the CBM commerciality in their licensed areas; and others have started production drilling and analyzing markets and infrastructure (pipelines and petrochemical complex) for future gas distribution. The results are promising so far.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90135©2011 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Milan, Italy, 23-26 October 2011.