methane

With the sage grouse population apparently declining as quickly as coalbed methane (CBM) development expands in the Powder River Basin, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Wyoming is attempting a friendly chicken dance with the region’s oil and natural gas operators, indicating that applications for permits to drill outside the delicate habitat will be given priority.

Constellation Energy Partners LLC (CEP) expanded its coalbed methane (CBM) and gas shale holdings in the Cherokee Basin of Oklahoma by closing its previously announced acquisition of AMVEST Osage Inc, a subsidiary of privately held AMVEST Corp., for about $240 million.

Coalbed methane used to be a deadly threat to coal miners. In the 1950s and 1960s natural gas was routinely flared as an unwanted by-product of oil production. Gas from shales and tight sands, once spurned as too difficult to produce, is now the future for many domestic producers. And natural gas hydrates lie beneath the world’s oceans waiting for technology to free them while liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers ply the waves above.

Constellation Energy Partners LLC (CEP) expanded its coalbed methane (CBM) and gas shale holdings in the Cherokee Basin of Oklahoma with an agreement to buy AMVEST Osage Inc. from the Osage Indian Nation for $240 million. The sale is expected to close by the end of the month.

Constellation Energy Partners LLC (CEP) expanded its coalbed methane (CBM) and gas shale holdings in the Cherokee Basin of Oklahoma with an agreement to buy AMVEST Osage Inc. from the Osage Indian Nation for $240 million. The sale is expected to close by the end of the month.

A Colorado state court judge has ruled against the state engineer’s office for the first time, saying that coalbed methane (CBM) developers who “divert” water as part of the natural gas production process are required to get a water permit from the engineer’s office in the same way that other water users do.

A Colorado state court judge has ruled against the state engineer’s office for the first time, saying that coalbed methane (CBM) developers who “divert” water as part of the natural gas production process are required to get a water permit from the engineer’s office in the same way that other water users do.

Unconventional natural gas resources — coalbed methane, gas shale and tight sandstone — have buoyed North American production, but on the downside, production per well is lower, thus raising unit costs, which means that continued higher gas prices are needed to maintain output on a flat trajectory, according to a joint study by energy consultants Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) and IHS.

A pipeline proposed by the Wyoming Pipeline Authority (WPA) to carry off some of the billions of gallons of water produced annually from coalbed methane (CBM) operations in the Powder River Basin is close to becoming more than a pipe dream. If successful, it could defuse some complaints about the excess water byproduct of CBM development.