Daily gas production at China’s largest coalbed methane field exceeds 7 million cubic meters

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  Xinhua News Agency, Taiyuan, March 27 (Reporter Wang Feihang) – Reporters learned from the Shanxi Coalbed Methane Branch of the North China Oilfield that on March 26, the daily gas output at the wellhead of the Shanxi Qinsui Coalbed Methane Field, which is China’s largest coalbed methane field, exceeded 7 million cubic meters, setting a new historical record.   The Qinsui coalbed methane field is located in the southeastern part of Shanxi Province, covering an area of over 3,000 square kilometers, with an estimated coalbed methane resource volume of 600 billion cubic meters. In 2006, Huabei Oilfield obtained the rights to exploit coalbed methane in the Qinshui Basin of Shanxi, and subsequently built China’s first coalbed methane field with an annual surface extraction capacity of over 2 billion cubic meters.   Coalbed methane, also known as coal mine gas, is a type of unconventional natural gas resource. Developing coalbed methane is of great significance for promoting coal mine safety, expanding natural gas supply, and reducing environmental pollution.   A responsible official from the Shanxi Coalbed Methane Branch of the North China Oilfield said that in recent years, relying on the abundant coalbed methane resources in the Qinsui Basin and by focusing on achieving high levels of technological self-reliance, the North China Oilfield has continuously carried out technological innovation efforts. As a result, a development method for extracting coalbed methane from higher-order coal seams was developed, which significantly increased the daily production per horizontal well; the proportion of wells with high production levels exceeded 48%, while the capacity utilization rate was over 95%. This has enabled the oilfield to maintain a steady trend of increasing reserves and production.   It is reported that in the second half of 2023, the second pipeline connecting the Shanxi Qinsui coalbed methane field in the North China Oilfield to the **main pipeline network was successfully completed, enabling an additional 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas to be transported annually and thus creating a new framework for the transport of coalbed methane through two separate channels. Thus, the external transportation capacity of the Shanxi coalbed methane pipeline in the North China Oilfield has reached 3.5 billion cubic meters per year, providing an additional guarantee for ensuring a stable supply of energy during winter in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, as well as in provinces such as Henan, Shandong, and Jiangsu.