Shanxi province said it will target doubling its annual unconventional gas output to 30 billion cubic meters and doubling industry revenue to 100 billion yuan($14.75 billion) during the 15th "Five-Year Plan" period (2026-2030), according to remarks at a coal and coalbed methane co-mining forum held on the sidelines of the 2026 Taiyuan Energy Low-Carbon Development Forum on September 4.

Coalbed methane is an unconventional natural gas produced from coal seams with methane as its main component. Its calorific value is one to four times higher than that of general coal, and its combustion produces almost no waste gas. Its extraction is significant for reducing coal mine gas accidents, expanding natural gas supply and reducing environmental pollution.

Shanxi is China's most coalbed methane-rich province with the strongest industrial foundation. In 2025, Shanxi's coalbed methane output reached 14.7 billion cubic meters, accounting for over 80% of the national total, marking the province's historic transition from a natural gas importer to an exporter. In the first half of this year, Shanxi's total coalbed methane output reached 7.89 billion cubic meters, accounting for about 81% of the national total during the same period.

Yao Qinglin, director of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources, said at the forum that during the 14th "Five-Year Plan" period, Shanxi initially built two unconventional gas exploration and development bases in the Qinshui and eastern Ordos basins, along with six large gas fields each with annual output of 1 billion cubic meters. Coal-mining and gas-extraction integration has been comprehensively advanced, with the comprehensive utilization rate of coal mine gas exceeding 50%.

During the 14th "Five-Year Plan" period, Shanxi added 563.84 billion cubic meters of proven coalbed methane reserves. Cumulative proven reserves have now exceeded 1 trillion cubic meters, ranking first nationally. According to the Shanxi Coalbed Methane Resources Exploration and Development Plan (2021-2025), predicted coalbed methane resources at depths shallower than 2,000 meters in Shanxi total approximately 8.31 trillion cubic meters, accounting for nearly one-third of the national total.

To achieve the 15th "Five-Year Plan" targets, Shanxi will deepen the construction of the two exploration and development bases in the Qinshui basin and the eastern margin of the Ordos basin, strengthen coal-mining and gas-extraction integration and coal-gas co-mining, accelerate the construction of a province-wide "smart single network" natural gas pipeline transmission and distribution system, and integrate into the national oil and gas "single national network".

The province will also build eight industrial clusters covering exploration and development, gas economy, gathering and storage transportation, comprehensive utilization, specialty equipment and advanced manufacturing, technological innovation, and financial logistics services, establishing an integrated upstream-midstream-downstream industrial development pattern.

Shanxi will implement a "dual-wheel drive" strategy of increasing unconventional gas reserves and production alongside consumption and utilization, vigorously develop industrial clusters and promote leapfrog development of the unconventional gas base.

Yao said at the forum that the province has so far established 98 coalbed methane mining rights covering a total area of approximately 24,100 square kilometers, forming a diversified development pattern with central state-owned enterprises such as PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC as the main players, alongside foreign enterprises, provincial state-owned enterprises and private companies.

Shanxi said it will continue to strengthen innovation leadership from national-level research platforms, focusing on key technological breakthroughs in coalbed methane exploration and development in deep, medium-shallow, broken-soft and low-permeability coal seams, intelligent equipment manufacturing, cascade efficient utilization of low-concentration gas, and CCER carbon asset development.

The province will improve the industry-academia-research collaborative innovation mechanism, open channels for industrializing technological achievements, and cultivate new quality productive forces in the coalbed methane sector, consolidating its position as a national unconventional gas base.

Zheng Guoguang, former vice minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management and president of the China Disaster Prevention Association, said at the forum that developing and utilizing coalbed methane improves coal mine production safety, supplements low-carbon clean energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

He shared specific measures on coal mine gas safety and emergency management, covering safety governance, organizational leadership, responsibility implementation, prevention and technology empowerment.