Utah's six, frontier, coalbed gas plays (hatchured and numbered) in relation to the state's coal fields (shaded).

by David E. Tabet and Jeffrey C. Quick
Survey Notes article, v. 35 no. 2 April 2003

Introduction

The remarkably successful development of gas deposits in coalbeds of the Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale in central Utah's Emery coalfield has encouraged petroleum companies to look for new coalbedgas "plays" elsewhere in the state.

There are currently six frontier coalbed-gas plays in Utah attracting industry interest:

1. Book Cliffs
2. Wasatch Plateau
3. Sego
4. Alton- Kolob
5. Johns Valley-Kaiparowits Plateau
6. Henrys Fork

These six frontier coalbed gas plays are in various stages of testing or development. The undeveloped portions of these six plays collectively contain an estimated in-place gas resource ranging from 2.0 to 9.8 Tcf, which is significant compared to Utah's 2001 proven gas resource of 4.6 Tcf.

Book Cliffs Play || Wasatch Plateau Play || Sego Play
Alton-Kolob Play || Johns Valley-Kaiparowits Plateau Play || Henrys Fork Play