The Wyoming Historical Society published an interesting piece by Wyoming reporter Dustin Bleizeffer on the history of coalbed methane development in Wyoming, “Coalbed Methane: Boom, Bust and Hard Lessons.” The article covers the boom of the early years of 2000’s and the current bust that has left companies bankrupt and the State addressing the abandoned infrastructure from the development. It is an interesting piece of recent oil and gas history describing how individuals and companies, litigation and government policies shape development on the ground. The article may raise some questions: What should or could have been done smarter? What lessons were learned by the regulators, the public and the industry? Will any lessons learned change management of the next resource boom?

Here is a link to the article:  http://www.wyohistory.org/essays/coalbed-methane-boom-bust-and-hard-lessons