OREANDA-NEWS. November 19, 2014. Coal seam gas (CSG) is natural gas that comes from coal seams. In the last decade CSG trapped deep under the ground in Queensland, Australia, has emerged as an abundant source of gas at a time of rising global demand for cleaner forms of energy.

To get the resource to where it is needed, companies including BG Group, and its Australian business QGC, are in the process of investing around USD70 billion to develop Queensland’s CSG for export, in the form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

Recognising this new industry would bring new challenges, BG Group created the CSG Technology Hub based in Brisbane, Queensland. Its aim is to help QGC safely, economically and sustainably deliver gas for the Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) project.

As the manager of this research and development team of scientists and engineers, it is my role to ensure the projects we pursue are relevant, achievable and, when time comes, can actually be implemented. The success of our work depends on there being a demonstrated need for any project we do and QGC retaining final ownership of any technology developed or trialled in our CSG fields in southern Queensland.

A good example of our work lies in how we handled waste water from drill rigs. At issue was the escalating cost of trucking waste water back and forth from remote storage ponds and drilling locations. In partnership with QGC’s Well Engineering and Environment teams, we developed a solution in which water was treated on site using equipment mounted on trucks. The initial field trials were a success; water was treated and re-used for drilling multiple times, cartage requirements were greatly reduced and there was a significant reduction in our environmental footprint from drilling.

This technique is now being adopted by QGC on a broader scale for remote well-sites, and has resulted in time and cost savings.

Another issue was to do with the identification of “sweet spots” in the low permeability areas of the resource. The CSG Technology Hub team has successfully trialled a range of geophysical techniques including 3D seismic, micro-seismic and electrical geophysics to find these sweet spots in low permeability areas.

The team is working closely with the University of Queensland?s Centre for CSG, and were instrumental in the development of the centre, which is focused on research and education in the CSG industry. In just a few years it has done industry-leading research in petroleum engineering, geosciences, water management and social engagement.

So far, our team has delivered five projects for implementation within QGC. These projects will help QGC to maximise gas production while minimising our environmental footprint.