Investigation of the coal properties and the potential for coal-bed methane in the Forest City Basin

Abstract

The Forest City basin in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, contains substantial coal resources in numerous beds too deep and thin to be mined by conventional methods. However, these coal beds have the potential to produce commercial quantities of coalbed methane. The four State geological surveys of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, and the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a preliminary assessment of existing geologic data to determine the thickness and areal extent of deep coals in parts of the Forest City basin. In addition, coal quality, thermal maturity (rank), and coalbed methane composition analyses were performed on some of the coal beds where good-quality coal samples could be obtained. Methane desorption and composition analyses performed on 11 coal beds from Kansas and Missouri confirm that coalbed methane is indeed present in coal beds of the Forest City basin. Although the volume of that coalbed methane is still unknown, the amount of methane in those areas tested during the current study is sufficient to warrant additional investigations. Reports of excessive methane occurrence in abandoned underground coal mines in Missouri may suggest that greater quantities of coalbed methane may be present at other localities in the basin. A coalbed methane industry within the Forest City basin would be an energy resource of great economic value to the four States. Cost-benefit analyses for Missouri alone indicate that, in a best-case scenario, an industry the size of that currently operating in the Black Warrior basin of Alabama (an industry that has produced 23.4 billion cubic feet of gas from 910 wells and 590 new jobs) would generate $74 million annually in economic benefits to the State of Missouri from business and industry, increased personal income, and local and State government revenue. Even the most conservative scenario would generate over $4 million annually to Missouri's economy and $2.5 million in benefits to business and industry. The revenue generated in each of the four States would be primarily in underdeveloped rural regions. The results of the current investigation would provide citizens and local governments in these areas with the information necessary to make sensible determinations relative to the benefits of exploring and developing coalbed gas. are currently being produced from coal beds in the San Juan basin of Colorado and New Mexico and in the Black Warrior basin of Alabama (fig. 1). The Forest City basin contains a substantial amount of coal resources in numerous beds too deep and thin to be mined by conventional methods. Coalbed methane producers operating in other parts of the United States have overlooked the Forest City basin in their previous exploration efforts because of the lack of geological data on the extent, thickness, quality, and rank of the coal beds in the basin. If coalbed methane is found to be present in commercial quantities in the basin, these deep coal beds would represent a vast, untapped energy source. This report contains the results of a preliminary...

Solute Concentrations Influence Microbial Methanogenesis in Coal-bearing Strata of the Cherokee Basin, USA

“…Coalbed methane has been produced from numerous middle and upper Pennsylvanian-age coalbeds in the Forest City and Cherokee basins. Over 25 coalbeds are recognized, however, most of the coalbeds exist within the Cherokee group of the Desmoinesian series (Bostic et al, 1993 ). The coalbeds are interbedded with layers of shale, sandstone, and limestone and dip gently (<0.5°) to the west across most of the basin.…”