Shanxi deep coalbed methane field hits 4 billion cubic meters annual capacity, cutting emissions vs coal

The Daji Gas Field in Shanxi province has pushed its annual production capacity past 4 billion cubic meters, making it the largest deep coalbed methane operation in China. Deep coalbed methane is extracted from coal seams more than 2,000 meters underground, a depth previously considered uneconomical by the global oil and gas industry. PetroChina developed ultra-long horizontal drilling and integrated geological engineering to make it work. When burned for power, coalbed methane emits about 50 percent less CO2 than coal, so scaling this up matters for China's near term emissions trajectory. China is now the first country to commercialize deep coalbed methane at scale. The Daji field alone accounts for over 80 percent of the country's deep coalbed methane output. The gas is high purity, 95 to 98 percent methane, and can feed directly into existing pipeline networks. That avoids the need for new transport infrastructure. The article frames this as a breakthrough against a long held industry assumption that seams below 1,500 meters were not worth developing. If the production numbers hold, this could shift how China manages its gas supply and coal transition in the coming decade.