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Study: high potential for coalbed methane in Valle Vidal unit
The Associated Press
There is high potential for oil and gas development in a 40,000-acre area of the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico, according to a new study.
The report released July 29 on the forest’s Valle Vidal unit is not an environmental study, but rather looks at the potential for development over the next 20 years.
About 40 percent of the 100,000-acre Valle Vidal, most of the eastern half, is being considered for coalbed methane development.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson earlier in July vowed that the state would fight any effort by the Forest Service to allow coalbed methane production in the Valle Vidal.
The area is home to the state’s largest elk herd and to two rivers the U.S. Forest Service has said are eligible for wild and scenic river status. Environmentalists have said the natural beauty and pristine land could be lost forever if drilling is allowed.
There currently are no oil and gas leases or producing wells on the Valle Vidal unit, according to the study, called a reasonable foreseeable development scenario. Coalbed methane and shallow gas The study says the primary area of interest is coalbed methane and natural gas associated with two geologic formations at a depth of less than 2,000 feet.
Development would mean associated roads and pipelines as well as drilling vertical wells, spaced one every 160 acres in allowed drilling areas, or up to 250 well pads. If the state approved doubling the spacing to one well every 80 acres, the number of wells could double as well, the study said.
The report was done by Gretchen Hoffman and Brian Brister of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources and Thomas W. Engler, chairman of the petroleum and chemical engineering department at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.
Hoffman and Brister wrote a study published in New Mexico Geology early in the year that said the Raton Basin in the northeastern part of the state, particularly the area extending from the northeastern portion of the Valle Vidal to the New Mexico-Colorado line, has potential for good coalbed methane production.
The Valle Vidal became part of the Carson National Forest in 1982 after it was donated by an oil company, Pennzoil Corp.
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