What is coalbed natural gas?
Sometimes referred to as methane gas, it is a naturally occurring gas bound by water pressure in underground coal deposits. It is same as natural gas. Essentially, coalbed natural gas - or coalbed methane - is simply natural gas that comes from underground coal seams.

Where is it found in Montana?
It is found in coal deposits in the Powder River Basin of southeast Montana.

What is the process for extracting the natural gas?
Water wells are drilled into the coal deposits. As the water is released through the well, water pressure is decreased, which releases the natural gas. The natural gas flows to the surface within the well bore where it is captured and piped to a compression station.

How is the natural gas distributed?
From the compression station, the natural gas is transported by a pipeline to major gas transmission pipelines and distributed throughout the United States.

Will de-pressurizing the water within a coalbed seam cause underground fires?
During the production phase of CBNG activity, conditions necessary to foster spontaneous combustion of coal are not present. CBNG wells leave no underground voids susceptible to spontaneous coal ignition. In addition, oxygen is required for combustion and all pipelines have oxygen sensors that will shut pipelines if any oxygen is detected.

Will natural gas leaks occur at the surface during production?
When coalbed natural gas wells are drilled and completed, they are capped and sealed which keeps the water and natural gas in the coal. As water is pumped from the coalbed, a cone of depression (low pressure) is created around the well. All water and gas flows from high pressure to low pressure. Therefore, because the confining layer is maintained, and because the gas flows to the lower pressure well, natural gas does not escape to the outcrop and does not migrate to the surface.

Will domestic water wells be negatively impacted by CBNG development?
Typically, CBNG wells are drilled at much deeper depths and do not impact shallow aquifers utilized by domestic wells. Impacts to domestic water wells are rare. However, by law and industry practice, producers provide alternative domestic water sources if wells are impacted by production.

Do production wells and compressor stations negatively impact the environment?
The wells do not emit any volatile organic compounds to the atmosphere. Compressor engines are fueled by natural gas which is the cleanest burning fossil fuel that will bring many environmental and economical benefits to the United States.

It's the water that makes CBNG production controversial. How much water is discharged?
A new CBNG well discharges about 12 gallons of water per minute. After about a year of production, the water discharge is reduced to about 8 gallons a minute. A typical garden hose discharges about 5 gallons a minute.

Is CBNG produced water "salty"?
Some folks consistently refer to the water produced from coalbed natural gas production as "salty". This is not an accurate characterization. In fact, the water produced from coalbed natural gas production is closer to the technical definition of freshwater than it is to saline water. Fresh water, as defined by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), is water that contains less than 1,000 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). The water produced at Fidelity's project near Decker, Montana, contains fewer than 1,500 mg/L of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). The following USGS parameters illustrate how the CBNG produced water fits into the technical definitions:

Freshwater	Less than 1,000 mg/L of TDS
Slightly saline water	From 1,000 to 3,000 mg/L of TDS
Moderately saline water	From 3,000 to 10,000 mg/L of TDS
Highly saline water	From 10,000 to 35,000 mg/L of TDS
Seawater	Average about 35,000 mg/L of TDS
Brine	Amounts greater than 35,000 mg/L of TDS

According to the USGS technical definitions, the produced water is slightly saline and very close to the technical definition of freshwater. It is important to note that the groundwater quality varies significantly across the Powder River Basin. The fact is that the water meets established criteria for both human and livestock consumption and is not toxic to aquatic life. The only potential problem with the produced water is that it is generally not suitable for irrigation on clay soils without proper management.

The water meets all of the primary drinking water standards for human consumption as established by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the SDWA and the Montana Water Quality Standards as described in WQB-7 (Montana Department of Environmental Quality, 2002. CIRCULAR WQB-7 - MONTANA NUMERIC WATER QUALITY STANDARDS. Rev January 2002).

In addition, the CBNG produced water does meet all recommended water quality levels for livestock (National Academy of Sciences. 1974. Nutrients and Toxic Substances in Water for Livestock and Poultry. National Academy Press, Wash D.C.). In most instances, the ranchers owning the land where CBNG development is taking place are anxious to have additional water resources available. Having water where and when they wish allows them to spread out their cattle over more of the available range and allows them to better manage the land they own. Several ranchers have reported weight gain in their cattle in winter months because they had a readily available source of water.

Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing conducted by Fidelity Exploration & Production Company under Montana Department of Environmental Quality established procedures demonstrates that the water is not toxic to aquatic life. The salinity level of produced water, measured by Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) or by Electrical Conductivity (EC), is suitable for irrigation for many of the crops raised in southeastern Montana. The produced water does not contain any specific ions in concentrations high enough to pose a toxicity concern to plants.

Can the water be used for irrigation?
Some of the produced water may not be suitable for irrigation on clay soils without proper management. The produced water may contain dissolved sodium ions and very low concentrations of dissolved calcium and magnesium ions. The ratio of the dissolved sodium concentration to the dissolved magnesium and calcium concentration is called Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR). Application of high SAR waters to soils can cause the clay minerals in the soil to swell and disperse, resulting in a reduction of soil permeability (the ability of the water to infiltrate through the soil). This resulting decrease of soil permeability can result in lower crop yields due to the inability of the soil to deliver water to plant root zones. Proper management techniques, such as choosing soils with lower clay content for irrigation with higher SAR water, or application of standard agricultural soil amendments to increase calcium concentrations in the soil or irrigation water may mitigate the effect of irrigation with high SAR water. This practice, known as managed irrigation, is being used by Fidelity and several of its landowners to beneficially use the produced water.

What about injecting the water back into the ground?
Some say that injection is a responsible method for produced water disposal (and pressure maintenance). Injection has been used in other parts of the U.S. However, when the water quality is usable, potable water, like the water produced with CBNG in many parts of the Powder River Basin, it does not make sense to dispose of it. This high quality water should be put to beneficial use or preserved for future use. In most instances, where the petroleum industry has used injection for disposal, the produced water quality is not appropriate for any beneficial uses. For example, the water produced with CBNG in the San Juan Basin of southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico has 10-30 times the TDS levels seen in the Powder River Basin CBNG produced water. It is almost as saline as seawater (average about 35,000 ppm).

The water produced from the Williston Basin of eastern Montana and western North Dakota has 100 times the TDS levels seen in the Powder River Basin CBNG produced water and 5 times the TDS levels of seawater. Produced water in both the San Juan and Williston Basins is disposed of by injection.

Some say injecting produced water into the same coal zones eliminates/mitigates the full range of adverse surface water impacts. This statement ignores the other surface impacts of injection. First of all, you simply can't put all of the water back. Industry's experience with coals as injection zones suggests that they are not very effective receptors of produced water. Therefore, to return the water to the coal, an operator would have to drill one injection well for every 1 to 2 producing wells. The thought of that many additional wells and the related infrastructure (i.e., injection lines, pumping stations, power lines, etc.) is staggering.

How do energy producers manage the water?
The suggestion that a single "silver-bullet" solution exists to an issue as complex as management of water produced from CBNG wells is na?ve. Many management options are available that need to be evaluated in each individual situation. The evaluation needs to consider landowner needs and requirements, regulatory requirements, produced and surface water quality and quantity, soil types and terrain, land uses at the project site and downstream, the timing of the project and the economics of the project. It is highly likely that the intelligent water management plan for any given project will include several of the possible water management alternatives. Fidelity is currently providing water to ranchers for stock water, conducting managed irrigation on some lands, providing water to nearby coal mines for industrial use (primarily dust abatement), discharging limited volumes of water directly to the Tongue River under a discharge permit issued by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and evaluating water treatment technology for applicability in this area.