Coal bed methane wells in the works

August 22, 2006

By DARRELL BREESE

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Bob Fowler moved to the Mat-Su Valley in the 1950s with his parents, who purchased the Broostrom homestead on Farm Loop from the Busby family.

As a Valley resident, he understands the controversy surrounding an Evergreen Resources Inc. plan to conduct coal bed methane drilling in the area in 2003 and 2004. But he still plans to develop several coal bed methane wells in the Valley.

Fowler Oil and Gas Corporation plans to develop a coal bed methane well on the property of Fowler's longtime friend, Henry Kircher, on Trunk Road and three additional wells on other properties in the Mat-Su Borough.

Fowler insists the issues

and concerns that made the Evergreen drilling plan so controversial will not affect his company.

“We're working with property owners who've been in the Valley for a while and have large parcels of land,” Fowler said. “Our plan is to work only with property owners who have both the surface and subsurface mineral rights, and we'll share a royalty with them.”

Fowler said plans call for the well on the 920-acre Kircher property to be drilled and operational early next year, after

getting the required permits from the state and the Mat-Su Borough.

At the conclusion of the Evergreen drilling debate in 2004, the borough assembly passed some of the strictest regulations for coal bed methane exploration and drilling in the nation.

Borough Mayor Tim Anderson said the legislation came about after people learned there were more than 200,000 acres already leased by Evergreen.

“There was an outcry from the community for us to do something,” Anderson said. “We were reacting to a situation where there as no state or local regulations in place for coal bed methane exploration that would protect the property owners, water quality and the environment.

“With the ordinance, we set up a way for businesses to come in and do it right in the future,” Anderson continued. “With public hearings, permitting and plan reviews.”

The strict borough guidelines don't seem to trouble Fowler. In fact, he welcomes them, he said, adding that the extraction process that will be used either meets or exceeds all regulations.

“We pride ourselves on the use of environmentally friendly horizontal drilling technologies when drilling for and producing coal bed methane natural gas,” Fowler said. “We live in the Mat-Su Valley, so it is particularly important for use to take care of the Valley. There will be no surface impact, no noise and no bringing water to the surface with our drilling method.”

Fowler said there is a “night and day” difference between Evergreen's proposed drilling method and what his company plans to use.

“It's like comparing the regular leaded gas of the 1970s with the unleaded gas of today,” Fowler explained. “New down-hole technology allows us to separate the gas from the subsurface water without bringing the water to the surface. That eliminates the need for a holding area at the surface and the need for a noisy pump.”

According the Fowler, the natural gas would go into

an underground pipe and

connect with Enstar's pipe

system.

“After the 3,000-foot well is drilled, all that will be left on the sight is a 10-by-10 building that will house a small low-pressure pump and a computer monitoring system,” he said.

Kircher declined to comment about plans for a well on his property.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@ frontiersman.com.