Wes MacAleer, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, announced today the commencement of drilling a stratigraphic test well at Spring Valley, PEI, to assess coal-bed methane potential on Prince Edward Island.
Prince Edward Gas Company Inc. of Charlottetown is financing the stratigraphic drilling and coring operations that will be conducted by Logan Drilling Ltd. of Stewiacke, Nova Scotia.
"Much of Prince Edward Island is underlain by seams of coal of various thicknesses," said Minister MacAleer. "Located too deep for extraction, these coal formations may provide the province with energy in the form of coal-bed methane."
Coal-bed methane is similar to conventional natural gas in that the primary constituent is methane — a clean burning fuel. But, the operations to extract coal-bed methane and conventional natural gas are very different.
Conventional natural gas is often located in reservoir rocks considerable distances away from the origin of the gas. Over the course of time, conventional natural gas has migrated to a sealed formation, often trapped under high pressure.
Coal-bed methane remains adsorbed by the coal particles in a coal seam. Thus, the coal seams serve as both the source and the reservoir for the gas. Several critical characteristics of the coal govern the ability of extraction operations to induce the gas to flow to the surface. Unlike conventional natural gas, coal-bed methane is held under very low pressure, only about five psi.
"We expect to reach the target depth of 5,200 feet in approximately six weeks," said Gary MacKenzie, President of Prince Edward Gas Company. "However, it may require several months to analyse the coal samples."
A preliminary mapping study of the coal seams, conducted by Drs. A.C. Grant and P.N. Moir from the Atlantic Geoscience Centre, has estimated coal-bed methane potential on mainland PEI to be approximately 7.6 trillion cubic feet. To date, however, there has not been any evaluation of coal samples to determine key characteristics for coal-bed methane potential such as: depth in which the seams are located, gas content, porosity and permeability. Ultimately, these characteristics will determine the economic feasibility of coal-bed methane extraction on PEI.