Coalbed methane workshop set for March

The second Alaska coalbed methane workshop, “Opportunities in Alaska Coalbed Methane,” is scheduled March 1-3 at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, the West Coast Petroleum Technology Transfer Council and the U.S. Geological Survey and includes a coalbed methane short course March 1, a field trip on March 2 with a dinner and keynote speaker that evening, and workshop sessions and panels on March 3.

Organizers are soliciting papers and sponsors for the workshop. For further information please call or e-mail Jim Clough (907-451-5030; [email protected]); Iraj Ershaghi (213-740-0321; [email protected]); or Charley Barker (303-236-5797; [email protected]).

The first conference was held in October 1998 and attracted about 50 participants, Clough said. Organizers are hoping for 100 to 150 this year, including investors and people from the Lower 48 who are really interested in Alaska. With that in mind, Clough said, this year’s conference is being held just prior to the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Fees for the conference had not been set in January, and Clough said that organizers were hoping to attract sponsors for the event to keep fees low enough that interested members of the public could attend.

The first day will be a short course by Charley Barker and others on how you go from a coalbed gas prospect to a development, Clough said. The second day will be a field trip to the Houston area to look at Dave Lappi’s site (see page 1 article on the Houston coalbed gas field).

For the workshop on the third day, organizers are requesting papers on: case studies of coalbed methane operations in the Lower 48 and worldwide; reservoir characterization procedures; resource evaluation procedures; permeability enhancement; Alaska resources; and economic forecasting.