Isotopic and hydrogeochemical evidence for biogenic gas in Cuervos Formation coal beds, Cesar Rancheria Basin, Colombia

Coal bed methane (CBM) has recently been produced from sub-bituminous to high volatile bituminous low rank coals (vitrinite reflectance 0.39 to 0.53%) from the Paleocene Cuervos Formation in the Cesar Sub-basin, Colombia. Understanding CBM gas origin is vital for designing exploration and production strategies, in order to target either shallow economic accumulations of microbial gas or deeper and thermally mature coal seams. In this context, this study aims to determine whether thermogenic gas, biogenic gas, or a mixture of both gas types have contributed to gas yield in the Cesar Sub-basin; it also discusses the relationship between gas origin and tectonics. For the first time, co-produced waters and gas samples from CBM multi-seam production wells and shallow aquifer water-wells were collected in the Boqueron compartment (Cesar Sub-basin) and were analysed via stable isotope composition and molecular geochemistry. Structural compartmentalisation in the Sub-basin as a result of interplate shortening during the Mid-Paleogene has resulted in slightly different coal ranks, saturation, and gas contents between compartments of the Paleocene Cuervos Formation. This event could have interrupted early thermogenesis and allowed the introduction of meteoric waters carrying bacteria consortia responsible for biogenesis. The produced waters from the CBM wells were HCO3 > Na+ > Cl- type, and ranged in TDS (Total dissolved solids) from 2268 to 6602 mg/L (avg. 3887 mg/L). Recently revised genetic diagrams of delta C-13-CH4 versus delta H-2-CH4 and additional parameters, such as gas dryness ratio and water chemistry, corroborated biogenesis as the main gas origin. Carbon isotopic differences between carbon dioxide and methane (Delta C-13(H2O-CH4)), as well as those of hydrogen isotopes in water and methane (Delta H-2(H2O-CH4)), also indicated a typical microbial CO2 reduction pathway. The positive carbon isotope composition of dissolved inorganic carbon (delta C-13-DIC) not only showed a clear differentiation between waters from CBM wells and those from shallow aquifers, but also confirmed the occurrence of methanogenesis when paired with high alkalinity. In addition, the water quality analysis showed increasing sodium and bicarbonate concentrations with depth, which is typical of CBM production basins. Although biogenic gas was identified, tectonic settings do not seem to explain gas origin occurrence, since secondary biogenesis was expected in an uplifted basin such as Cesar Rancheria. Isotopic data was not decisive in differentiating primary versus secondary biogenesis, since the gas isotope compositions plot close to the boundary between the primary and secondary biogenic gas fields. Further studies on isotopic chemistry are required to refine this interpretation and confirm gas generation in the other two compartments.

Automated summary

Coal bed methane (CBM) production in the Cesar Sub-basin of Colombia has been studied to determine the origin of the gas, with a focus on whether it is thermogenic, biogenic, or a mixture of both. Analyzing water and gas samples from CBM production wells and aquifers showed that biogenesis is the main gas origin, with structural compartmentalization influencing gas content and coal ranks. Isotopic and geochemical analysis supported the presence of biogenic gas and confirmed the occurrence of methanogenesis in the study area.