Hydrodynamics of coalbed methane reservoirs in the Black Warrior Basin: Key to understanding reservoir performance and environmental issues

The Black Warrior Basin of the southeastern United States hosts one of the world’s most prolific and long-lived coalbed methane plays, and the wealth of experience in this basin provides insight into the relationships among basin hydrology, production performance, and environmental issues. Along the southeast margin of the basin, meteoric recharge of reservoir coal beds exposed in an upturned fold limb exerts a strong control on water chemistry, reservoir pressure, and production performance. Fresh-water plumes containing Na–HCO₃ waters with low TDS content extend from the structurally upturned basin margin into the interior of the basin. Northwest of the plumes, coal beds contain Na–Cl waters with moderate to high-TDS content. Carbon isotope data from produced gas and mineral cements suggest that the fresh-water plumes have been the site of significant bacterial activity and that the coalbed methane reservoirs contain a mixture of thermogenic and late-stage biogenic gases.