CBM pipeline would conserve state water

By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER
Star-Tribune energy reporter Sunday, August 05, 2007

Although the current proposal for a coal-bed methane water pipeline and storage facility has been criticized as too expensive, the industry still needs more management options for water.

Mark Doelger, chairman of the Wyoming Pipeline Authority, said he will recommend that state lawmakers keep the proposal alive, and consider a severance tax break to help fund the project.

In the meantime, coal-bed methane production may be limited for lack of water management options.

In order to extract the methane that resides in coal, operators pump water from the coal aquifer, relieving the hydrostatic pressure that holds the gas in place.

Currently, the industry pumps about 600 million barrels of water from coal aquifers in the Powder River Basin each year, according to the state. Some of the water is used in irrigation and to water livestock, but a majority of the water is not put to a specific beneficial use.

In some areas, such as the Powder River Breaks over the Big George coal seam, there's not much capacity for water on the surface. That limits the amount of gas that can be produced.

Doelger said the industry seems to have hit a ceiling of 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day. "So in order for the play to grow you need more water management options."

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