PetroChina to Boost CBM Output

PetroChina, China’s state owned energy giant, has raised its annual coal bed methane output target to 6 billion cubic meters by the end of 2015 from earlier target of 4 bcm.

"We place our focus on coal bed gas as mass production of shale gas is not attainable in the short term," PetroChina Coalbed Methane Co president Jie Mingxun said. The company is expected to produce 3 billion cubic meters of CBM gas in 2012

The country has about 5,000 coal bed methane wells, and PetroChina plans to drill 2,500 coal bed methane producing wells each year starting in 2012. China is expected to produce 30 bcm of coalbed gas annually by the end of 2015, according to a five-year plan released earlier by the National Development and Reform Commission.