ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that water plays a very important role in the recovery and production of various types of fossil fuels and uranium (for nuclear energy). It illustrates the fact that the use of water and steam is not only essential for the recovery and production of various types of fossil fuels and uranium, but it will significantly increase over the next several decades. Recovery of methane from coal beds is an attractive prospect for development because of the ability of coal bed to retain a large amount of methane gas; coal is able to store six to seven times more gas than an equivalent volume of rock common to conventional gas reservoirs. Geopressurized zones are underground natural formations that are at unusually high pressures for their depth. These zones are formed by the deposition of clays over more porous sand or silt and the gradual compaction of these clays over years.
