Patent ID: 7681639

Claim:
A process to maximize the area of microbial stimulation of a coal bed to recover methane gas from a formation through a multiple well system, comprising the following steps: a. drilling a first substantially vertical bore hole through the depths of seams in the coal bed; b. drilling a horizontal well from the vertical bore hole at substantially the depth of the coal beds utilizing underbalanced drilling techniques as to leave the wellbore in in-situ and non invasive state and extending the well a distance to cover substantially a given length of the coal beds so that the well can serve as an injection well; c. drilling the horizontal well with lateral extensions in a pattern substantially under formation pressure with produced water so as not to damage the permeability and cleat system of the coal seams; d. removing the produced water for the horizontal pattern underbalanced and replacing the fluid with fluid containing nutrient enriched designer microbes so that substantially a maximum area of the coal seam permeability and cleat system is exposed to the fluid containing microbes; e. drilling a second horizontal pattern underbalanced in close proximity to said first pattern as such to pressure communicate with said first pattern and allow the fluid from the first well to migrate in the subsurface through advection, dispersion and diffusion so that fluid will migrate from areas of higher pressure or concentrations to areas of lower pressure or concentrations; f. wherein the chemistry of the drilling system will incorporate an anaerobic environment without oxygen present; and g. allowing the methane gas produced to flow up the well system so that the well serves as a collection well where methane gas can be collected from the collection well during underbalanced conditions and moved up the vertical bore hole to be collected and stored at the surface.