China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) invested US$28
million last year in China's largest coal-bed methane (CBM) project
in Qinshui Basin, according to a company report.
The project, located in northern China's Shanxi Province, boasts
a verified reserve of 75.4 billion cubic meters.
CNPC dug 230 coal-bed gas wells in 2006 and 55 of them have been
put into operation, said the report.
The gas field is located next to China's huge West-East gas
pipeline, which transports gas from the western regions to the
energy-hungry east.
Safety measures for the mining of CBM are notoriously lax. China
has the highest number fatalities from coal mine accidents in the
world and 80 percent of them are caused by gas explosions.
However, CBM is a source of clean energy. Industry experts
believe it will become a practical and reliable substitute energy
resource for natural gas as the global shortage of energy resources
worsens and conventional natural gas supply falls short of market
demand.
(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2007)