CNPC Develops Effective Coal-bed Methane Techniques

OIL FOCUSCNPC Develops EffectiveCoal-bed Methane TechniquesThe technology for recovery of coal-bed methane knowledge will support the low-cost exploration fordeveloped by China National Petroleum Corporation coal-bed methane, "Shen said. "By 2015, a quarter of(CNPC), which is the parent company of PetroChina, will the exploration for the gas will be done with the use ofhelp the nation lower reliance on overseas companies and independent multi-branched horizontal wells. "CNPC saidbetter position itself to produce that resource at a low cost. multi-branched horizontal wells are capable of producingTrapped in coal deposits, the special type of methane is up to 10 times as much of the gas a day as are verticalone among several types of high-energy unconventional shaftsgases that are expected to become important sources of "As a latecomer to the global coal-bed methanethe countrys energyindustry, Chinese companies are eager to research andAccording to the UK consultancy Wood Mackenzie, develop their own know ledge about equipment usedcoal-bed methane could contribute 14 percent of China's to establish long-distance well connections, reducedomestic supply of gas by 2030. But because of a lack exploration costs and strengthen the ability to compete inof expertise in techniques used to retrieve it, the resource large-scale exploration and the commercial production ofis still little used in China. Even so, progress has been domestic coal-bed methane, "said Zou Laifang, deputymade toward increasing the country's output of coal-bed dean at CNPC's Drilling Research Institute. China is themethane. CNPC has introduced a commercial application world's third-largest owner of coal-bed methane resourcesof a technique known as multi-branched horizontal well- containing 36.81 trillion cubic meters of the gasdrilling, which can be used to explore for coal-based To accelerate the exploration for coal-bed methanemethane at a low costn Chinese mines, the Ministry of Finance decidedCNPC recently signed contracts with several domestic eliminate the tariffs and value-added taxes formerlycompanies to explore for coal-bed methane and provide charged on equipment and components used to refine thethem with the independently-produced components gas in mines. That change took effect in 2011. By 2015needed to produce the gas. That will speed up the China plans to be able to produce 30 billion cu m of coalproduction, "Shen Ruichen, director of CNPC's coal- bed methane, up from 1.57 billion cu m in 2010. Chinesebased methane and reservoir project institute, recently companies have planned to make large investments intoold news media. Before CNPC's technological advance, projects to tap the resource.foreign groups had largely held a monopoly over the Petro China International Co Ltd announced plans toproduction of equipment needed to connect horizontal and put US$1.5 billion into a coal-bed methane plant this yearvertical mine shafts underground, a requirement in multi- and has ambitions to produce 4.5 billion cu m of the gasbranched horizontal drilling. That made it expensive for a year by 2015. China Petroleum and Chemical CorpChinese companies to obtain those important components. Ltd, or Sinopec, aims to produce 2.5 billion cu m ofIn the past, CNPC had to use imported connecting unconventional gas a year by 2015. As the world's largestequipment to operate multiple horizontal shafts. CNPC's energy consumer,innovation promises to reduce the cost of a single well of unconventionalby a third, taking it to less than 10 million yuan(US$1.6 cleanly than oil oryheincrease its production中国煤化工urn morCNMHGmillion), according to the company. This independentCHINA OIL&GAS11No.2.201