Reduced Environmental Impact

Coalbed Methane and the Water Imperative

WellDog’s Best Practice Technology can prevent the unnecessary discharge of water by reducing the development of wells that do not produce gas and do not contribute to the dewatering of a field.

The total water produced in the Powder River Basin will exceed 30,000,000,000 gallons in 2007.  Consider the following:

• Twelve percent (12%) of all Wyoming CBM wells never produced gas (non-contributing).
• Fifty-one percent (51%) of all Wyoming CBM wells produced less than 30 MCF/day, which is below economic levels.  (Note: Some wells that produce poor levels of gas may contribute to the overall drawdown of water in a field, and are therefore considered useful.) 

The graph above shows the dramatic increase in total water production in the last six years.  If the water/gas ratio had been held to 1.5 in 2006, water production would have been reduced by 19% (5.5 BB gallons).  If the water/gas ratio was decreased to 1.3, water production would have decreased by 30% (8.6 BB gallons).  The decrease to 1.3 can be obtained by eliminating the completion of non-contributing wells and being more selective about wells that contribute to the overall dewatering of a field.

WellDog’s Best Practice Technology can prevent the unnecessary discharge of water by reducing the development of wells that do not produce gas and do not contribute to the dewatering of a field.  The dramatic results are shown below in a scenario from the Powder River Basin. (Figures below assume that using WellDog’s technology would eliminate the lowest 30% of water production.)