Bulgaria

http://www.epa.gov/coalbed/intl/bulgaria.htm

The coal deposits of Bulgaria are Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic in age and range in rank from anthracite to lignite. The Paleozoic and older Mesozoic deposits are small and structurally complex. The Cenozoic coalfields are lignite to sub-bituminous in rank and are generally simple in structure. Both opencast and underground mining methods are employed.

CBM Energy Limited, a Houston-based exploration company, applied for an Exploration License covering an exploration block in the Dobroudja Basin for natural gas (coalbed methane) in March 2000. The Council of Ministers granted a Permit for Exploration and Prospecting to CBM Energy Limited in May 2000. In October of that same year, CBM Energy executed an Exploration Agreement with Bulgaria's State Agency on Energy and Energy Resources (SAEER). The agreement has a three-year life, with the possibility of two 2-year extensions. The government has also agreed to grant CBM Energy a production concession if commercial production is established.

Raven Ridge Resources, a Colorado Corporation and an equity partner in CBM Energy, has been awarded a U.S. Trade And Development Agency (TDA) grant to analyze long-term market opportunities for coalbed methane in the Dobroudja Basin region, as well as determining what additions, if any, are needed to improve the existing infrastructure so that the gas production will reach market. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) has chosen the University of Mining and Geology "St. Ivan Rilski" in Sofia as the in-country host, or Grantee, of the TDA grant that helps fund this study, and Raven Ridge is the contractor that will undertake it.

Czech Republic

http://www.epa.gov/coalbed/intl/czech.htm

The Czech Republic relies on coal for about 56 percent of its energy, but it is also heavily dependent on imported oil and gas. Its domestic natural gas reserves have been estimated at approximately only one year's supply at current consumption rates. Therefore, developing its coalbed methane (CBM) resources could contribute to improving the country's energy economy.

The Czech Republic hosts four major bituminous coalfields: the Upper Silesian (Ostrava-Karvina), the Lower Silesian (Zacler), the East Bohemian coalfields (Kladno area), and the West Bohemian coalfields (Plzen area).

Of these four, the Upper Silesian or Ostrava-Karvina basin is the most important as it supplies all of the country's coking coal and a significant portion of its steam coal. Mining conditions are difficult due to structural complexities imposed by faulting and folding, stratigraphic and erosional discontinuities, and gas outbursts. The CBM resource in Ostrava-Karvina mining district coal seams that are less than 1,200 meters deep has been estimated to range from 50 to 370 billion cubic meters (1,766 to 13,065 billion cubic feet, or bcf).

The heavy dependence on imported oil and gas makes CMM/CBM an attractive import substitution opportunity. The Czech government recognizes the potential benefits of CMM/CBM development and has supported its development through direct funding and implementing a favorable leasing policy. A major CMM player in the Czech Republic, DPB Paskov a.s., was established more than 40 years ago to drain gas and water in underground mine workings and has been active since 1992 in CBM/CMM development in Upper Silesian Coal Basin. It now holds CBM exploration licenses for 9 blocks with a total area of about 200 sq. km, and has tested CBM production from several in-mine boreholes at the Frenstat Mine. DPB Paskov also extracts CMM from unused shafts and five surface gob gas wells and supplies gas to large industrial customers. When initially tested, two of the five gob wells, #107 and #108, produced up to 6,000 and 8,000 cubic meters of gas per day, respectively.

Germany

http://www.epa.gov/coalbed/intl/germany.htm

Germany's bituminous coal resource is concentrated in the western part of the country, primarily in the Ruhr and Saar basins. In these basins, numerous (50-100) coal seams occur within a thick Carboniferous section. Germany produced 113 million tons of coal in 1999, ranking eighth in the world. Like most countries in Western Europe, the German coal industry is expected to decline due to the relatively high mining costs and a continued effort to increase natural gas usage for environmental reasons.

Coal mine methane is establishing itself as an important clean energy resource in Germany with the passage of a new energy law. In 2000, the German Federal Government adopted an Act on Granting Priority to Renewable Energy Sources for the environmental protection as well as guaranteeing a reliable energy supply. This objective is related to the German Federal Government's planned commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 21 per cent by the year 2010. Under this act, because coal mine methane is included as a renewable resource, compensation is being paid for electricity generation installations (with an electrical capacity of under 500 kilowatts) using gas from coal mines in the amount of 15 pfennigs (~US$0.07) per kilowatt-hour.

G.A.S. Energietechnik GmbH together with their partners, RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen, and LAMBDA Gesellschaft fur Deponiegastechnik mbH, Wuppertal has recently founded the joint venture company called Minegas GmbH. The aim of Minegas GmbH is the development of CMM from abandoned coal mines in the Ruhr area for the generation of energy that will be used in the electricity and heat market. The company expects to build 50 MW of capacity using CMM-fueled gas engine-based CHP power plants. There is also a high level of interest in CBM development in Germany. Leases have been awarded in the Ruhr and Saar basins and several test wells have been drilled.

The United Kingdom’s largest coal mine methane producer, Alkane Energy, is transferring the focus of its project development energies to Germany where preferential energy pricing makes producing electricity from coal mine methane economically attractive. Their first German project will be a 2.7 MW generation plant to be developed in the nordrehein-Westfalen region of the country.

Pannonian International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Galax, has applied for a 50% working interst on 168,700 acres in the Saar Coal Basin in Germany This acreage is on trend with the Pfalzer Anticline about 18miles to the southwest. Pannonian estimates a possible CBM reserve base between 5-15 Tcf of gas. In late 2002 Pannonian will apply for a lease on about 79,000 acres on the Mittenwalde coalbed methane plan. Pannonian estimates the possible gas resource of about 250 Bcf of gas. In 2003 Pannonian will apply for a license on about 120,000 acres on the Laustiz CBm plan, estimating a possible reserve size of 55 Bcf of gas.

Poland

http://www.epa.gov/coalbed/intl/poland.htm

Ranked seventh in the world in terms of coal production, Poland has three major Carboniferous coal basins: The Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, and Lublin basins. The Upper Silesian basin which straddles the border of the Czech Republic (Ostrava-Karvina basin in the Czech Republic), is economically the most important, producing over 90% of the country's coal.

Traditionally, coal has been Poland's primary energy source, but the contribution of oil and gas will increase as the energy economy is restructured. Importing natural gas will require substantial monetary outlays, and efficient use of CBM and CMM could provide a cost-effective alternative to such imports.

Polish mines currently employ cross-measure boreholes to produce gas in advance of mining and in-mine gob wells to drain mined-out areas. A number of economic considerations and technical factors (e.g., coal seam permeability, drainage area, and drainage percent) affect the viability of CBM/CMM development in Poland (CBM Review, Volume 5, Number 2, page 13). The overall percentage of CMM utilized from the degasification systems, however, is high, generally in excess of 70%. End-uses for the gas include power generation, heating, coal drying and industrial process head applications. Advanced gas drainage techniques can address some of the technical challenges to successfully exploiting Poland's CBM reserves, and US EPA has been working with mines and government officials to promote such technological innovation. An excellent example of this activity is the CBM recovery and electric power generation project plan developed for the Wesola Mine in Myslowice.

The project has attracted attention from the World Bank, Global Environment Facility, project partners in Poland (identified through a CMOP mission to the country in 1997), and private investors in the U.S. If implemented, this project will result in immediate tangible benefits to the Wesola Mine and the local economy. Furthermore, it will provide a practical demonstration of innovative drilling techniques that can benefit the Polish coal industry at large by improving methane extraction efficiency, thereby enhancing the industry's competitiveness in a restructured, market-based economy.

In November 2001, the RECOPOL project (Reduction of CO2 emissions by means of CO2 storage in coal seams in the Silesian Coal Basin of Poland), funded by the European Commission, started with aims to develop the first European field demonstration of CO2 sequestration in subsurface coal seams.

Under a contract from the US Trade Development Agency, MEGTEC Systems and its subcontractor, International Resources Group are preparing a feasibility study, project document, and an implementation plan for an 11 MW power project that would be fueled with ventilation air methane blended with coal mine methane. If implemented, the proposed project would be located at the Brzeszcze Mine in Poland’s Upper Silesian Basin.

Romania

http://www.fe.doe.gov/international/romnover.html#Coal

Romania has estimated coal reserves of 3.98 billion short tons. Most of these reserves are lignite and sub-bituminous coal, with the largest reserves located in the Jiu Valley. Less than 10% of the coal produced in Romania is bituminous. The World Bank had concluded that there were too many uneconomical mines and asked Romania to shut 29 pits out of a total of 230 across the country. There are possibilities for the World Bank co-financing several coal projects. The Romanian coal industry has suffered from declines in production, outdated infrastructure, and labor unrest. Miners' unions have protested wage arrears, mine closures, and working conditions. However, the Romanian government is hoping for a resurgence of the coal industry, getting more output from existing mines. This appears to have started in the year 2000, as Romanian coal mine output improved over the previous year's total for the first time in several years.

Galaxy has signed a letter of intent with Pannonian International Ltd with significant CBM prospects in Europe. Pannonian International would consequently become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Galaxy. Galaxy will begin its exploration program with its concession lease in Romania on the Jui Valley coalbed methane prospect. Pannonian International has a 30 year concession lease covering 21,538 acres in the Jiu Vallley. The concession area is located in a coal mining area, which contains up to 18 coal seams with a cumulative thickness of about 171 feet. The coal seams are located at depths of 985 to 3,280 feet with the main target seam averaging 72 feet of thickness. Pannonian intends to drill 2 CBm wells in 2003. Gustavson Associates was commissioned to complete a geological and economical review of the Jiu Valley acreage.

Hungary

http://www.fe.doe.gov/international/hungover.html#Coal

Recoverable reserves of hard coal are 600 to 700 million short tons; reserves for lignite are 3,000 million short tons; and reserves of brown coal are 1,000 million short tons. Most Hungarian coal is high in sulfur and ash. The only reasonable possibility for greatly increasing new coal mining capacity would be from lignite. Hungary's lignite resources are estimated to be adequate to justify an additional 900 to 1,000 MWe of lignite-fueled electricity generating capacity.

There are three types of coal mined in Hungary -- brown coal (i.e., sub-bituminous), black coal (i.e., bituminous) and lignite. There are seven brown coal mines in Hungary, of which two have annual output over one million metric tons. All of the brown coal mines in Hungary are underground mines. There are only two black coal mines in Hungary; both are open pit mines and are located in the southern part of Hungary. Black coal in Hungary is difficult and expensive to mine because the seams are relatively thin and often steeply sloped. These coal seams also contain significant amounts of methane, which so far has proven difficult to extract economically for use as a fuel.

The predominant coal mining activity in Hungary is for lignite, which has a heating value of about 6,000 to 8,000 kJ/kg. There are nine underground and nine open pit lignite mines in Hungary. Seven of the nine underground mines are adjacent to power plants that use the coal, while two very small underground mines (less than 10,000 metric tons per year) are located near municipalities where the lignite is used for home heating.

Canadian fracmaster ltd. Of calgary, alberta, canada, was amoung the first north american firms to establish a coal seam gas exploration venture in eastern europe. In 1993 the company, through its subsidiary fracmaster nederland bv, announced a joint venture, methane master kft., with mecseki szenbanyak fa to explore for coal seam gas on a 298-km2 concession in the mecsek coal basin. The long term concession could have let to development of an estimated in place resource of 3 tcf to a depth of 4,920 ft, but in 1995 the license was relinquished. Other coal gas exploration reportedly is underway in the pecs, komlo, hosszuheteny and maza areas. (The International Coal Seam Gas Review pp 134-135)