100-billion-cubic-meter deep coalbed methane field proven in the Sanjiaobei Block, Ordos Basin

PetroChina disclosed that the Sanjiaobei Block in Lüliang City, Shanxi Province, has added more than 100 billion cubic meters of proven geological reserves of coalbed methane. The newly added reserves have a contiguous gas-bearing area of 411.5 square kilometers, with coal seams buried at depths of 1,900 to 2,150 meters; the exploration target belongs to the deep coalbed methane resources on the eastern margin of the Ordos Basin.

The Sanjiaobei Block is located in the eastern Ordos Basin, in the Linxian area of Lüliang, Shanxi. Public exploration data show that the target intervals for deep coalbed methane (CBM) in this area are mainly distributed below 1,500 m. Previously assessed deep CBM resources were about 160 billion cubic meters. During the exploration stage, drilling, fracturing, and production testing have been carried out, and some deep CBM directional wells have achieved a maximum stable daily gas production of more than 20,000 cubic meters. The preparation of the deep CBM development plan for the Sanjiaobei Block, launched in 2024, covers an area of about 407 square kilometers. The plan is expected to have a production capacity of about 1.8 billion cubic meters per year, and its preparation includes geology and gas reservoir engineering, drilling engineering, gas production engineering, surface engineering, and economic evaluation.

Sanjiaobei is also among the blocks included by the National Energy Administration in the key areas for increasing CBM reserves and building successive production capacity in the eastern Ordos Basin. The Action Plan for Increasing CBM Reserves and Production in the Eastern Ordos Basin (2026–2030), issued in July 2026, proposes carrying out studies on accumulation patterns, enrichment mechanisms, and geological-engineering sweet spot evaluation in Sanjiaobei and other blocks, accelerating evaluation of areas with low exploration maturity, and promptly submitting proven reserves. In the development phase, it requires strengthening CBM production test evaluation in Sanjiaobei, orderly advancing production capacity deployment, and conducting tests of horizontal wells with ultra-long lateral sections.

According to the action plan, by 2030, the proven geological reserves of CBM in the eastern Ordos Basin will increase by more than 600 billion cubic meters compared with the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, and CBM production will reach 18 billion cubic meters, of which deep CBM production will exceed 16 billion cubic meters. The newly added proven reserves in Sanjiaobei this time represent the latest exploration result of continuous reserve growth of deep CBM in the region. Subsequent work has entered a stage linking reserve evaluation with the development plan, production test evaluation, and production capacity deployment.