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Advances in Technology Making Coalbed Methane Exploration Mo |
New technologies being used to drill for, and
produce, coalbed methane (CBM) gas are making it easier to get out
the gas. That's according to Dr. David Marchioni, one of Canada
leading CBM geologists, who appeared on Canada ROB TV in late April.
Because of advances in the technology, one can be more effective in
getting the gas out Dr. Marchioni told the reporters on Canada
leading business television network.
Questioned about how
CBM gas was different from conventional natural gas, Dr. Marchioni,
who was recently named the Vice President of Exploration for Pacific
Asia China Energy (TSX: PCE), responded, CBM gas is really no
different from natural gas. He added, Its really better because it
has a very high methane content, generally 90 percent, often much
higher than that.
Marchioni pointed out that coal has a lot of
porosity and can hold a lot of gas. ?Permeability is the problem
with CBM,he explained. He compared CBM with natural gas, saying, If
you can find the (natural) gas, you can probably get it out. That's
not always the case with CBM.
China came during Marchioni
television interview. China nearly always does end up a topic of
discussion, when talking about CBM. Because China coal mines account
for approximately 80 percent of coal mining fatalities, China has
campaigned to reduce the number of deaths. China state-owned CBM
company, China United Coalbed Methane Company, has continued
granting CBM concessions to foreign-owned companies to help vent the
methane from their coal mines. The Chinese government is pushing
very hard to have their coal mines degassed,Marchioni said. He
explained that the Chinese were beginning to drill for methane
before starting their coal mining operations.
Thats
something we're interested in,Marchioni told ROB TV. The we must be
Pacific Asia China Energy, upon whose board he sits as a director in
addition to exploration duties. His company has two CBM concessions
in China, and Marchioni recently returned from China. Pacific Asia
China Energy has also formed a joint venture company with Australia
largest privately owned drilling company to utilize their highly
acclaimed Dymaxion drilling technology for exclusive use in China.
That is an advanced technology in which Chinese coal mining
companies have expressed interest in using for their coal mines.
Marchioni company recently announced initial drilling results
on one of their Chinese CBM properties.
As with others, who
have recently visited China, Marchioni was overwhelming in his
praise for China continued modernization process. He joked
with us, saying, I get a better cell phone connection in some
rural part of China than I do in some parts of Alberta. It has been
difficult for us to grasp how modernized China has become.
We've heard the same glowing phrases about China expressed by
numerous mining insiders who have recently visited this country. All
of that commentary didn't really dawn on us, until this past
weekend, while watching the new movie, Mission Impossible 3.
Magnificent shots of Shanghai skyline filled with ultra-modern
office towers and high rise condominiums, where some of the movie
was filmed, persuaded us China has indeed moved forward into the
21st century. China has more than 200 cities with populations
greater than 1 million, dwarfing any other country on earth. China
reportedly has more then 300 million in its middle class. We had
better all start learning Mandarin or Cantonese or both.
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