Resources Conditions of Coalbed Methane Districts in China

Abstract  The China National Administration of Coal Geology accomplished an assessment of coalbed methane resources of China in 1988. The total amount of coalbed methane resources in China is 14336.944 billion m3, occurring in recoverable coal seams and beneath weathering zones, with coalbed methane content equal to or higher than 4 m3 per ton and buried depths smaller than 2000 m, among which there are 967.51 billion m3 of predicted reserves and 13369.434 billion m3 of future reserves. The resources in coal reservoirs with methane content of more than 8 m3 per ton are 12444.087 billion m3, and those with methane content between 4 to 8 m3 per ton are 1892.856 billion m3. There are 35 districts in which the resources abundance is higher than 150 million m3/km2, 49 districts with the abundance between 50 million and 150 million m3/km2, and 31 districts with the abundance less than 50 million m3/km2. There is 9256.078 billion m3 of methane occurring in coal seams with buried depths less than 1500 m, and 5080.866 billion m3 in coal seams with buried depths between 1500 and 2000 m. There are 28 large‐scale districts in which coalbed methane resources are more than 100 billions m3, 28 medium‐scale districts with coalbed methane resources between 20 billion and 100 billion m3 and 59 small‐scale districts with resources amount less than 20 billion m3. The Jincheng area is one of the most favourable districts for coalbed methane resources in China.