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Article: Coalbed methane outlook bright in US, brightening elsewhere. (Horizon).
- Article from:
- World Gas Intelligence
- Article date:
- February 5, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Energy Intelligence Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Coalbed methane--natural gas held in coal seams--has enraged over the last decade as a rare area of growth in US gas standing out against a backdrop of declining domestic supplies (p6). First seen on a meaningful scale in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado in the late 1980s, production of coalbed methane in the US currently amounts to about 4.2 billion cubic feet per day, or 8% of total US gas output. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that unconventional gas--including gas from shales and tight sands, as well as coalbed methane--will be the fastest growing component of domestic supply in the lower 48 states, peaking at around 5.3 Bcf/d in ...