Today (March 5), the Daji Gas Field, located in Shanxi Province and China's largest coalbed methane field, achieved an annual production capacity exceeding 4 billion cubic meters. This makes it a crucial alternative resource for boosting China's natural gas production.

Coalbed methane is an unconventional natural gas resource adsorbed or existing in a free state within deep underground coal seams, typically buried at depths exceeding 1,500 meters, with broad prospects for exploration and development. The Daji Gas Field, China's first coalbed methane demonstration project, is located in southwestern Shanxi Province. Since the beginning of this year, 16 new wells have been drilled at the Daji Gas Field, adding 250 million cubic meters of new production capacity. This has pushed the field's daily gas production to exceed 11 million cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 32%.

Compared to conventional natural gas, coalbed methane is buried deeper, has more complex geological conditions, and involves higher technical thresholds for extraction. It has long been considered a "deep forbidden zone" for oil and gas exploration and development. In 2019, PetroChina conducted technical research, and the first coalbed methane well, Daji 3-7, achieved commercial gas flow. In December 2021, the Jishen 6-7 well achieved a daily output exceeding 100,000 cubic meters, becoming China's first "breakthrough well" for the efficient development of coalbed methane.

The Daji Gas Field is China's first large-scale coalbed methane field, with an average burial depth of 2,130 meters and proven geological reserves of 400 billion cubic meters. Currently, the field has an annual production capacity of 4 billion cubic meters, accounting for over 80% of China's total coalbed methane production.