Abstract Between 1983 and 1993, the coalbed methane (CBM) industry changed from a high cost operation to a competitive main line gas resource. In 1983, there were approximately 165 coalbed methane wells in the United States with an estimated total annual production of 6 BCF. Between 1983 and 1993, industry drilled an estimated 6600 CBM wells that account for nearly 5% of domestic annual natural gas production. The rapid growth in production from this resource required technology advances in reservoir characterization, stimulation and production. These technology advances have reduced the cost of production from this resource, allowing production to expand from the sweet spots of two basins to multiple basins.