Good news: The approval process for coal-to-natural gas projects is accelerating!

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According to news from May 26, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued the \"Opinions on the Review of the Energy Efficiency Assessment Report for the CPI Huocheng 6 billion cubic meters per year coal-to-natural gas project,\" which indicates that the energy efficiency assessment report for this project has been officially approved by the National Development and Reform Commission. On April 30, the General Office of the **Development and Reform Commission issued the \"Opinions on the Review of the Energy Efficiency Assessment Report for the 4 billion cubic meters per year coal-to-natural gas project carried out by Su New Energy and Feng Co., Ltd. in Feng County\" (Document No. Fa Gai Ban Huan Zi [2015] 1086), approving the energy efficiency assessment report for this project. During the same period, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued the \"Opinions on the Review of the Energy Efficiency Assessment Report for the 4 billion cubic meters per year coal-to-natural gas demonstration project carried out by Xinjiang Longyu Energy Zhundong Coal Chemical Co., Ltd. in Xiheshan\" (Document No. Fa Gai Ban Huan Zi [2015] 1085), approving the energy efficiency assessment report for this project. Meanwhile, the Xinjiang Environmental Protection Department released the second public notice regarding the environmental impact assessment for Sinopec’s Zhundong coal-to-gas project. Earlier, on April 16, the Sinopec Xinjiang coal-to-gas transmission pipeline project (Xin Yue Zhe Pipeline) was prominently listed in the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s list of projects for which environmental impact assessment documents had been accepted. As the approval process for coal-to-gas projects in Xinjiang accelerates, projects of this kind in Inner Mongolia and Shanxi are also making rapid progress. On May 22, the **Ministry of Environmental Protection announced the status of applications for environmental impact assessment documents for construction projects. From May 18, 2015, to May 22, 2015, the Ministry accepted a total of 5 such applications. Among them are the 4 billion Nm3/year coal-to-natural gas project developed by Inner Mongolia Beikong Jingtai Energy Development Co., Ltd., and the demonstration project for the clean utilization of low-grade bituminous coal in Datong, Shanxi (CNOOC’s 4 billion cubic meter coal-to-gas project in Datong, Shanxi). On May 19, Donghua Technology announced that the Design Services Contract for China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s Ordos coal-to-natural gas project, with a capacity of 4 billion standard cubic meters per year, had officially come into effect. The subject of the contract is the provision of services related to the overall planning, overall design, basic design for certain utility systems, and detailed design for the project in question. The contract value is 57.9 million RMB, and the completion period for the overall design is estimated to be 9 months. It is also reported that the Yellow River Water Resources Commission under the Ministry of Water Resources has recently officially approved the water resources assessment report for the demonstration project on the clean and efficient comprehensive utilization of coal in Zhungeer Banner, Inner Mongolia. These include the water resource assessment reports for the 4 billion cubic meters per year coal-to-gas project of Beijing Jingtai Energy Development Co., Ltd., the 4 billion cubic meters per year coal-to-gas project of CNOOC, and the 4 billion cubic meters per year coal-to-natural gas project of Hebei JianTou. Despite the ongoing criticisms regarding coal-to-gas production, whether related to environmental issues, economic factors, or technical problems, it is undeniable that **the relevant authorities are gradually sending signals indicating a relaxation of restrictions on coal-to-natural gas production. Under the current energy landscape and the overall situation of the coal industry, a series of coal-to-gas projects that previously received approval may gradually come to fruition. However, given the tightening of environmental protection policies and previous instances of project environmental impact assessments being rejected, the Ministry of Environmental Protection holds the power to veto the approval of coal-to-gas projects in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. How many projects will ultimately be approved for commencement in the future? The final answer is still pending.