The proximity of CSM reserves to Brisbane and Sydney delivers transport cost savings that compensate for the relatively high cost of production. As a result, investors and the big energy companies are increasingly focusing their attention on CSM.

People working in the financial, coal and petroleum industries who need to ramp up their understanding of this boom energy sector can benefit from a one-day intensive course - Coal Seam Methane: Technical & Economic Fundamentals - to be held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney this year.

The course is designed to provide an introduction to those who are new to the industry, while including relevant case histories for those working on ongoing CSM projects, and also give detailed information to experienced CSM managers who are trying to optimise reserve bookings.

The course covers the fundamentals of coal geology, gas content and behaviours, and an overview of project economics, the costs of production, gas prices and margins.

It will give an understanding of CSM basics; CSM reserve booking requirements; operational options for reserve maximisation; and regulatory limitations on reserve bookings.

An open-forum environment aims to facilitate questions and discussion to maximise learning.

The course facilitators are US-based petroleum geophysicist John Hattner and petroleum engineer Dan Paul Smith.

Hattner has worked for 10 years on CSM certification projects in most active CSM basins worldwide, in countries such as the US, Australia, China, Botswana, Israel and Switzerland.

Smith has 25 years reserves certification experience worldwide and has worked in the CSM industry since the initial projects in the US' Black Warrior basin in the late 1980s.

Coal Seam Methane - Technical & Economic Fundamentals will be held in Brisbane on May 1 and September 15; Perth on September 11; and Sydney on September 17. For further information email: info@iir.com.au, phone 02 9080 4050, or see www.iired.com.au