A Breakthrough  Made in Research on Coalbed Methane 
Exploration and Development

    The 8th Five-Year period¡äs R&D project -- Target Evaluation of Co
albed Methane Exploration and Development and R&D of  Engineering Proc
ess and Technology, which is undertaken by North China Bureau of  Petr
oleum Geology under Ministry of  Geology and Mineral Resources, has ma
de a great progress, with breakthroughs in geology theory, methodology
 and technology. It has been appraised by experts invited by the State
 Planning Commission, recognizing the work has reached international a
dvanced level.
    Modern coalbed methane geology theories have been used in the proj
ect, the Bureau has sysmatically investigated geological characteristi
cs of coalbed methane in China, put forward the formation of  coalbed 
methane field mainly depends on gas storage ability and recovery and w
orked out the principles, processes and methods of  target evaluation 
suitable for geological conditions of coalbed methane in China for the
 first time. Meanwhile comprehensive evaluation of  coalbed methane ge
ology has been conducted in North China and its adjacent regions where
 are rich in coalbed methane, sorting out a batch of areas for further
 exploration. The project results show that there are about 20 trillio
n mª¬3 of  coalbed methane resources in the investigated areas, select
ed favorable regions including Hedong Basin of Ordos Basin, Weibei Coa
l-bearing region, Heshun-Changzhi coal-bearing region of Qinshui Basin
, East foot of  Taihang Mountains coal-bearing region, Pingdingshan co
al bearing region, Dacheng coal bearing region, Fuxin coal bearing reg
ion etc. Among the most favorable regions, there are Liulin of Shanxi,
 Anyang Honglin of He¡änan and Huainan Paji of  Anhui etc. 
    A set of coalbed methane exploration and development technologies 
that are suitable for Chinese situation has been created by the projec
t, including evaluation and lab testing of coalbed methane reservoir, 
logging and well testing. Based on the created technologies, they have
 created the first coalbed methane lab and the first coalbed methane d
ata simulation system in China, developed drilling, well completion, w
ell testing, fracturing and recovery technologies. The set of  technol
ogies is of pilot and demonstration functions.
    The first standard test area in China for coalbed methane explorat
ion and development has been set up in Liulin of Shanxi Province, with
 7 wells within 16 kmª¬2 of  area, among which, four wells reached 100
0-3000 mª¬3/d in gas production each, and one well has a gas productio
n more than 7000 mª¬3/d. So far, three foreign companies have signed c
ontracts with the Bureau to jointly explore and develop coalbed methan
e in China. 
    (From Geology & Mineral Resources News Feb. 29, 1996)