Taranaki coal seam gas exploration continues

Taranaki coal seam gas exploration drilling to continue

Solid Energy will shortly continue its Taranaki coal seam gas (CSG) work with a widely spaced exploratory drilling programme in the northern part of the Stratford District and western part of Ruapehu District.

Seven exploration holes will be drilled in an area from Tatu through to Whangamomona from late October through to approximately March next year.

“The work is similar to that we previously carried out in the north Taranaki to better understand the location of coal resources and potential for coal seam gas,” says CSG Manager, Grant Redman. “This round of exploratory drilling includes measuring coal gas content and permeability; that is the coal’s ability to release the methane gas that occurs naturally in coal seams.”

Six similar exploration holes were previously drilled by Solid Energy in the Taranaki near Mt Damper, Waitaanga, and around Tahora and Tangarakau over the last eighteen months. Drilling may reach depths between 800 – 1500 metres. Apart from one well near Whangamonona, wells will be fully cemented and areas rehabilitated once they have been drilled and tested.

Water samples will be collected from the Whangamonona well to begin preliminary work on managing the water produced in the coal seam gas production process. A truck-mounted drill rig will carry out the work with the permission of individual landowners and consents from the Stratford District Council and Horizons Regional Council.

Coal seam gas – also known as coal bed methane – is a technology undergoing development around the world. It is extracted at low pressure and can be used for industrial energy, electricity generation or to supplement existing gas resources. The coal itself is remains in the ground.

Solid Energy has been investigating coal seam gas as a source of energy since 2005. It has successfully generated electricity using a gas generator from a four well appraisal site in the Waikato, the first time electricity has been generated this way in New Zealand. Individual wells are connected with low pressure underground pipelines. Each well can last 10 to 15 years.

Currently Solid Energy’s focus for coal seam gas in the Taranaki remains on exploration. Any development of the Taranaki programme to appraisal level will depend on results of ongoing exploration over the next two years.

ENDS

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