aoe cashed up and on the hunt, page-33

Mrs_Peel,
Typically what happens is once the core samples are cut and retrieved to surface, they are put in sealed cylinders and the gas is allowed to liberate at atmospheric conditions. They usually monitor this onsite for two to three days or until they are comfortable that the results they are obtaining are valid. From the preliminary data, they can estimate the lost gas component (ie gas liberated while retrieving to surface) and generally can extrapolate the gas content at reservoir conditions. Once they have obtained this data, the sealed containers are sent to the lab for further gas desorption and other work. From the onsite analysis they can determine gas compositon ie methane, co2, etc. They can also do so at the lab. Hope that helps.