Shanxi, a key comprehensive energy hub in China, is rich in unconventional natural gas resources. On September 18, data from the province's statistics bureau revealed that output reached 1.68 billion cubic meters in August alone—a 7.7 percent year-on-year increase—bringing cumulative production for the January-August period to 13.32 billion cubic meters, the highest ever recorded for that timeframe.
Unconventional natural gas refers to reserves whose underground occurrence and accumulation patterns differ markedly from conventional gas deposits, encompassing categories such as shale gas and tight sandstone gas. Shanxi's estimated total unconventional gas resources stand at around 20 trillion cubic meters, accounting for roughly 8 percent of the nation's overall predicted gas resource volume.
In recent years, Shanxi has targeted unconventional gas as a key breakthrough, pooling efforts to tackle extraction challenges while advancing block construction and technological innovation. This sustained push has accelerated reserve expansion and production growth. Zhang Xiang, director of the Shanxi Provincial Energy Bureau, noted that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the province completed six large gas fields each with an output capacity of at least 1 billion cubic meters. It also established the nation's largest medium-shallow coalbed methane field, the largest deep coalbed methane field, and its first large-scale integrated tight gas field, solidifying the industry's foundation.
This year marks the opening of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. To convert its resource advantages into industrial strength, Shanxi will focus on maintaining stable output from shallow coalbed methane, ramping up production from deep coalbed methane, and controlling declines in tight gas output. By adopting region-specific and category-specific strategies to boost volumes, the province aims to reach 30 billion cubic meters of annual unconventional gas production by the end of the plan period.
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