About BWMC
In 1979, Jim Walter Resources (JWR) began a pilot program to determine if it was economically feasible to degasify coalbeds in advance of mining. Originally, five wells were drilled in the area of No. 4 Mine, located near Brookwood, Alabama, for the test. This pilot project was successful and in 1981 JWR and Enhanced Energy Resources formed the Brookwood Degasification project as 50/50 partners.
On September 1, 1983, a new company, Black Warrior Methane Corp. was formed to replace Enhanced Energy Resources as operator of the degasification project. In 1988, Southern Natural Gas bought Enhanced Energy’s half of the company. Today, Black Warrior Methane Corp. is jointly owned by Jim Walter Resources and El Paso Energy.
From the five wells in 1979, Black Warrior Methane Corp. now operates over 400 wells producing on average 50 million cubic feet of gas per day. Black Warrior Methane Corp uses three methods for extracting methane from JWR’s coal seams: vertical wells drilled from the surface; underground horizontal drilling used primarily for improving longwall operation; and GOB wells which pump gas from the area left after longwall mining has taken place.
In addition, Black Warrior Methane Corp. also owns Black Warrior Transmission Corp., which operates the 30 miles of gas pipeline used to deliver the methane gas to two major interstate pipelines.