Star-Tribune Editorial Board

We're glad to see that the state engineer's office is continuing to question how groundwater is being used for coal-bed methane production in the Powder River Basin.

During the past decade, according to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, more than 4 billion barrels of groundwater in the basin have been pumped through coal-bed methane wells and dumped on the surface. Some of the water is used in irrigation and to water livestock, but a majority of the water is not put to a specific beneficial use.

In December, State Engineer Pat Tyrrell decided to require proof that produced coal-bed methane water actually contributes to the commercial production of gas. Producers are now held to a threshold water-to-gas ratio of 10 barrels of water per thousand cubic feet of gas.

But it's estimated that more than 39,000 acre feet of water has been produced from wells that have not produced any gas.

The state engineer's office has now canceled or suspended nearly 250 permits, including many wells that it discovered had simply been abandoned. Last week it sent out letters to operators expressing concerns about nearly 1,000 additional coal-bed methane wells that have produced nothing but water for five years.

Some members of the Powder River Basin Resource Council have criticized the state engineer's action as too little, too late. It is, however, a definite step in the right direction. Wasting a precious resource like water shouldn't be allowed to continue.

But while some wells do produce only water, they may be on the outside of a network of wells. These wells can contribute to the commercial production of the overall network by keeping the local water level depressed so gas can be obtained from the other wells. The state engineer allows "show cause" hearings, which give operators an opportunity to explain the geologic specifics of each case.

Forty-two operators in the Crazy Woman and Clear Creek drainages in northeastern Wyoming will now have to convince the state engineer that they should be allowed to continue pumping water. This is a fair way to resolve the issue.

As Tyrrell said, "We will not let you pump water indefinitely." Even industry agrees that five years is an appropriate benchmark.

Bruce Hinchey, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, told the Star-Tribune, "If you've been pumping water for five years and you haven't gotten any gas, you're probably not going to get any gas."

After investigations into the operations of the nearly 1,000 wells are completed, the state engineer should have a substantially better idea about how much coal-bed methane water in the basin is actually being put to a beneficial use. That information can be used to help guide the permit process in the future.

Five years is long enough to determine if a coal-bed methane well is actually going to produce gas.

What do you think?

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