View pdf version

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBERTA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RELEASES COAL BED METHANE WATER STUDY

Calgary, Alberta (February 1, 2007)  The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) group of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) has completed a study entitled Water Chemistry of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs that examined the natural chemistry of water from both domestic water wells and coal bed methane wells in central Alberta.

Highlights of the study include:

• Age dating, as well as biological and chemical analyses of water samples in the central Alberta study area has found that water from coal bed methane wells and domestic water wells have separate and distinct chemical compositions.

• The study indicates that bacteria in water wells could be generating naturally occurring methane in varying amounts depending on the location and condition of the well. Although these naturally occurring bacteria do not thrive in aquifers, they flourish and multiply in water wells where the pumping action of the well provides them with an enhanced level of nutrients.

The study collected and examined water samples from twenty water and coal bed methane wells in a 38,300 square kilometre area of central Alberta that included four major water drainage basins, those of the Athabasca, North Saskatchewan, Battle and Red Deer rivers. Water samples were collected from existing domestic water wells and existing coal bed methane wells and age dated according to established scientific methods.

The findings of the study will add to the existing knowledge base about coal bed methane development in Alberta.

Sampling and testing of water was completed according to protocols compiled by the Alberta Geological Survey and based on those developed by the Geological Survey of Canada, the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta, the University of Saskatchewan and the United States Geological Survey.

Water samples were tested at the University of Toronto, Purdue University and independent labs within Canada and the United States.

The two-year study was partially funded by the Alberta Energy Research Institute.

The EUB ensures that the discovery, development, and delivery of Alberta's resources and utility services take place in a manner that is fair, responsible, and in the public interest.

The study can be found at: http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/newreports.shtml
For more information:
Darin Barter
EUB Communications
Tel: (403) 297-4116
Cell: (403) 681-0946
Email: darin.barter@eub.ca

NR 2006-05