A land block in North China's Shanxi Province adds more than 100 billion cubic meters of proven reserves of coalbed methane. Photo: Screenshot from China Media Group

A land block in North China's Shanxi Province adds more than 100 billion cubic meters of proven reserves of coalbed methane, marking a key step in the exploration and development of the deep coalbed methane, which will ramp up the nation's energy security, China Media Group learned from PetroChina on Sunday.

Deep coalbed methane refers to natural gas stored in coal seams at depths exceeding 1,500 meters, often classified as "unconventional gas."

Compared with conventional natural gas, deep coalbed methane is buried deeper and presents more complex geological conditions, requiring more advanced extraction technology, according to the media report.

The Sanjiaobei block in Shanxi is located in the eastern part of the Ordos Basin, covering a contiguous gas-bearing area of 411.5 square kilometers. Its coal seams lie at depths of 1,900 to 2,150 meters.

Zhang Lei, deputy chief geologist of PetroChina Coalbed Methane Co, said in the media report that the team overcame challenges such as complex geological conditions and built a full-chain system covering drilling, fracturing, and production. 

"Across the Ordos Basin, the deep coalbed methane proven reserves have now exceeded 400 billion cubic meters in total," Zhang said. 

Currently, the company carries out geological evaluation and pilot tests in the Sanjiaobei block. Two pilot test horizontal wells are producing a stable daily gas output of 50,000 cubic meters each, and a single well is expected to yield up to 50 million cubic meters over its entire life cycle, according to Guo Bingzheng, deputy general manager of PetroChina Coalbed Methane Co.

"With the addition of the newly confirmed integrated reserves of over 100 billion cubic meters, we now have the foundation to build production capacity of 1.8 billion cubic meters per year," Guo said in the report.

By the end of 2025, China's cumulative proven geological reserves of deep coalbed methane exceeded 1 trillion cubic meters. Experts predict that by 2035, China's annual deep coalbed methane output will reach 40 billion to 50 billion cubic meters, making it the country's most reliable replacement resource for increasing natural gas production after tight gas and shale gas supply, according to the report.


Global Times