South Australian Coal Potential and Coalbed Methane

Oil & Natural Gas / Coalbed Methane / Exploration

Date posted: 11/01/10

The depth and maturity of the coal deposits and distance to infrastructure and markets have prevented economic exploitation of all except the Leigh Creek Coalfield. Over the last 20 years, coal research in the state has focused on proving up known deposits for mining and power generation, and only limited greenfield coal exploration has taken place. CSM is now an important source of gas in eastern Australia and is being produced primarily from the Bowen and Surat basins in Queensland and New South Wales. CSM exploration is under way in South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Interest has been shown by a number of companies to explore for CSM in South Australia over the last five years, as a result of increasing CSM production from black coals in the eastern states and success achieved in producing biogenic methane from low-rank coal in the United States. Currently there are nine PELs and 6 PELAs under consideration for exploration rights.