China is set to significantly accelerate deep coalbed methane (CBM) exploration and development as technological advances align with the country's energy transition goals, according to industry analysis.

CBM development offers multiple benefits: improving coal mine safety and reducing gas accidents, supporting stable coal output, cutting carbon emissions and greenhouse effects, and diversifying the energy mix with cleaner fuel to bolster national energy security.

Chinese technicians have broken through depth barriers in recent years, making the country the only nation globally to achieve commercial-scale development of deep CBM, with single horizontal wells producing over 100,000 cubic meters of gas daily.

Deep CBM refers to methane-bearing hydrocarbon gas in coal seams buried deeper than 1,500 meters. After nearly six years of exploration evaluation and pilot development, results confirm the sector can become a significant natural gas resource supporting green economic growth, carbon peak and neutrality goals, and energy security.

One cubic meter of CBM releases heat equivalent to 1.2 kilograms of standard coal. As CBM is over 96% methane — a greenhouse gas 20-25 times more potent than carbon dioxide — utilizing one cubic meter avoids emitting 20-25 cubic meters of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The carbon neutrality push has created fresh momentum for the industry. Deep CBM has emerged as China's newest unconventional gas exploration hotspot after tight gas and shale gas.

Milestones include the Shenfu deep CBM field — China's first with over 100 billion cubic meters of reserves — discovered in 2023, and the Yandong field, which completed reserve review filing with the Ministry of Natural Resources in July. Both breakthroughs occurred in the eastern Ordos Basin, opening exploration space below 2,000 meters.

Deep formations present high ground stress, tight reservoirs and complex geology, with demanding drilling, stimulation and production technologies. The industry previously viewed large-scale commercial extraction as impractical.

On July 1, the National Energy Administration convened a special meeting on deep CBM exploration and development, calling for coordinated efforts to boost reserves and production.

On July 27, the administration issued an action plan for CBM reserve and output growth in the eastern Ordos Basin for 2026-2030, targeting proven geological reserves to increase by over 600 billion cubic meters from end-2025 levels and annual output to reach 18 billion cubic meters by 2030.

The Ordos Basin, with its extensive coal-bearing strata and favorable gas content, is a key CBM development region. Exploration has expanded to cover Linfen, Luliang and Xinzhou in Shanxi province, Yulin, Yan'an and Weinan in Shaanxi province, and Ordos city in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The China Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Report (2026) shows global gas output growing steadily, with ultra-deepwater and unconventional gains leading. China's new discoveries are dominated by deep and ultra-deep unconventional resources that are technically challenging, costly and time-consuming to develop.

The action plan categorizes blocks by reserve growth potential and development sequencing, aiming to accelerate deep CBM development in the eastern Ordos Basin while providing a model for similar basins nationwide.

Implementation of the plan is expected to drive unprecedented acceleration in CBM exploration across the eastern Ordos region and beyond, ensuring deep CBM resources are discoverable, extractable and commercially viable, strengthening both energy security and low-carbon development.