For more than a decade, coalbed methane (CBM) has been developed commercially in China, but results have not met expectations. For instance, in 2015, annual CBM production in China totaled less than 5 billion m3 (Bcm) and lagged far behind that of the US (35 Bcm) and Australia (18 Bcm). This paper presents a literature review to determine the engineering challenges and opportunities presented by CBM production in China.
Introduction
China holds the world’s third-largest CBM resources after Russia and Canada. China has multiple basins that contain CBM resources, though the majority of CBM activities are found in the Qinshui and Ordos basins. Together, these two basins contain more than 30% of China’s total CBM resource volume and 93% of discovered geological reserves.
Commercial-scale CBM production in China began in 2004 but did not see a significant increase until 2008. Since then, production has increased approximately threefold but remains significantly lower than that of the US and Australia, as well as the target set by the Chinese government.
China’s lower CBM production is not the result of a smaller development scale compared with those of the US and Australia.
