Developing Coalbed Methane Exploration Fairways along the North Slope of Rural Alaska

Oil & Natural Gas / Coalbed Methane / Exploration

Date posted: 08/26/09

By evaluating and prioritizing coalbed methane provinces and basins for the purpose of drilling and testing their potential as an alternative energy source (electrical power generation and home heating), remote Alaska's coalbed methane potential has been realized. On the basis of geologic and hydrologic criteria, the Northern Alaska Province (Colville Basin), Upper Yukon Province (Yukon Basin), and Alaska Peninsula Province (Chignik Basin) are considered of primary economic importance to making a contribution to the rural Alaskan gas supply. Detailed basin analysis of the North Slope has defined an exploration fairway along the western Colville Basin that may have the highest potential for coalbed methane productivity. The Yukon-Koyukuk Province (Kobuk, Upper Koyukuk, and Lower Koyukuk Basins) and Nenana Province (Minchumina Basin) are considered to have secondary economic importance. These remote basins lack sufficient information, particularly subsurface data, for determining their true coalbed methane potential.