The 12th five-year plan for coalbed methane (CBM) exploitation was filed recently with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and will be released to the public soon, according to an expert from a government think tank.

The new plan is to expand the CBM output to between 21.5 and 23.5 billion cubic meters for the period from 2011 to 2015, more than double that of the 11th Five-Year Plan period, said Sun Maoyuan, an expert with the National Energy Committee, during the 2011 China Oil Conference held in Beijing Monday.

According to Sun, the plan predicts newly-discovered CBM reserves will reach 850 billion cubic meters from 2011 to 2015, compared to 300 billion during the previous five-year period.

China's total CBM reserves are estimated at 36 trillion cubic meters, according to a previous People's Daily report.

Sun said that CBM exploitation in China faces an investment shortfall. "Right now, regulations concerning CBM exploitation are far from complete. The biggest problem is that government subsidies are  too low," he said.

Sun suggests the government increases its current exploitation subsidy of 0.2 yuan ($0.03) per cubic meter to 0.4 yuan per cubic meter in order to motivate more exploitation.

Zhou Xiujie, energy analyst from CIConsulting, said news of the plan will help support the performance of A-share listed petrochemical companies, including China's three oil giants – China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

According to Zhou, CNPC has planned CBM output of 4 billion cubic meters for the five-year period, covering almost one-fifth of the 12th five-year plan's target output; while Sinopec has established a company in Shanxi, home to some of China's biggest CBM reserves, to expand local CBM market. CNOOC recently purchased a 50 percent stake in China's biggest CBM exploiting company, China CBM.

"With the new plan, these companies will see business expand very quickly," Zhou said.