中國美國各不同 開採天然氣任重道遠

SHOUYANG, China — Jin Peisheng, a drilling rig foreman, knows the challenges of trying to extract natural gas from a coal seam under the cornfields here in north-central China.

中國壽陽——鑽井隊長金培盛（音譯）深知，從華北地區玉米地下的煤層中開採天然氣是多麼難的一件事。

Cracks in the subterranean coal are flooded with water that needs to be pumped out before the gas will emerge. The coal seams are so cold that gels injected into the well, which are meant to help release the gas, sometimes become gummy and block the flow instead. And there is constant concern about hitting the labyrinths of active coal mines that honeycomb the area.

地下煤層的裂縫裏注滿了水，需要都抽出來，才能讓天然氣得以釋放。注入礦井的膠體本來是爲了促進天然氣的釋放，但煤層實在是過於冰冷，使得膠體有時會變得太粘稠，反而擋住了天然氣的流動。此外，人們常常會擔心，這種做法會傷及這片區域里正在開採的迷宮般的地下煤礦。

“The big uncertainty is what’s underground — if there’s a tunnel, that’s a big danger. It would be dangerous for the miners,” Mr. Jin said.

“最不能確定的是地下有什麼——如果有隧道，風險就大了。那對礦工來說是很危險的，”金培盛說。

Faced with severe air pollution from coal and a rising dependence on energy imports, China has been eager to follow the United States by rapidly increasing natural gas output. Replacing coal with natural gas has also been central to Beijing’s hopes to limit emissions of global warming gases in China, the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide by a wide margin.

面對煤炭造成的嚴重大氣污染，以及越來越依賴進口能源的現狀，中國一直迫切希望效仿美國，迅速提高天然氣產量。用天然氣取代煤炭，也是中國控制溫室氣體排放的希望所在。中國是全球最大的二氧化碳排放國，排放量遠高於其他國家。

But China’s ability to extract sufficient natural gas is in serious doubt. Despite heavy investment and strong government support, China’s natural gas production is growing at a slower pace than its decelerating economy. China’s production of natural gas increased just 6 percent last year and 4.4 percent in 2012.

然而，中國開採天然氣的能力卻深受質疑。儘管獲得了大量投資，並得到了政府的大力扶持，中國天然氣產量的增速仍然比不上不斷放緩的經濟增速。中國的天然氣產量去年僅提高了6%，而2012年的增幅爲2.2%。

China’s main problem is that shale gas production has fallen far short of expectations. That has left the country relying on alternative methods considered also-rans by American standards, like pumping natural gas from coal fields.

中國的主要問題是，頁岩氣產量與期望值相去甚遠。於是，中國不得不依靠其他方法，比如從煤田中開採天然氣，而這些方法以美國的標準來看都頗爲落後。

Now, the Chinese government appears to be acknowledging the shortfall. Wu Xinxiong, the director of the National Energy Administration of China, unexpectedly said in a speech this summer that China’s target for domestic natural gas production in 2020 was only 30 billion cubic meters for shale gas and another 30 billion cubic meters for coal seam gas. Just two years ago, the National Energy Administration estimated that China would produce 60 billion to 100 billion cubic meters of shale gas alone by 2020.

如今，中國政府似乎承認了這方面的缺陷。國家能源局局長吳新雄今夏在演講中令人意外地表示，中國2020年國內天然氣生產的目標僅爲，頁岩氣和煤層氣各300億立方米。就在兩年前，國家能源局還曾估計，2020年，單是國內的頁岩氣產量就可以達到600億到1000億立方米。

If Mr. Wu’s forecast comes true, shale gas and coal field gas would each supply only 1 percent of China’s electricity generation needs in 2020.

如果吳新雄的預測成爲了事實，那麼在2020年，頁岩氣和煤層氣分別只能滿足中國1%的發電需求。

“If the population and economy keep growing, and extensive energy use continues, sustaining China’s energy supply will be hard,” Mr. Wu warned.

“在人口和經濟總量不斷增長的情況下，如果延續目前這種粗放的用能方式，我國的能源供應難以支持。”吳新雄說。

Gas production has been slow to rise despite energetic efforts by Beijing to make it financially attractive for energy companies, including direct subsidies for shale gas production. The Chinese government also announced on Aug. 13 that it would raise urban wholesale prices for natural gas at the end of the month by roughly 18 percent for industrial users.

儘管中國政府花大力氣想要提高該領域在經濟方面對能源企業的吸引力，包括對頁岩氣生產提供了直接的補貼，但天然氣產量一直增長緩慢。中國政府8月13日宣佈，非民用天然氣的價格在月底將上調約18%。

With domestic supplies increasing slowly, China has been looking elsewhere. It agreed in May to buy gas from Russia under a 30-year, $400 billion deal. And it has begun importing liquefied natural gas from Qatar, Australia and Yemen.

由於國內供應增長乏力，中國已經把目光投向其他地方。今年5月，中國簽署了一份價值4000億美元（約合2.5萬億元人民幣）的長達30年的合同，將從俄羅斯購買天然氣。中國也已經開始從卡塔爾、澳大利亞和也門進口液化天然氣。

The natural gas is sorely needed. Beijing plans to retire four coal-fired power plants by the end of this year and replace them with gas-fired plants in an effort to reduce air pollution.

中國對天然氣的需求非常迫切。北京打算在今年年底之前將四家燃煤電廠改爲燃氣電廠，以減少大氣污染。

But China does not have enough gas for a larger-scale conversion of power plants to gas. So the national government has already told smaller, less influential cities to stick with coal for now, and has discouraged businesses from investing heavily in gas-fired equipment.

然而，中國並沒有足夠的天然氣來更大規模地推廣燃氣發電。因此，中國政府已經要求影響力較爲有限的中小型城市，暫時繼續使用燃煤發電，並勸誡企業不要大舉投資燃氣設備。

Gas had looked like one of the few remaining ways for China to reduce its addiction to coal. China’s nuclear power program slowed after Japan’s triple meltdown in Fukushima. Efforts to expand hydroelectric power have run into environmental concerns as well as the huge cost of resettling people from areas flooded when dams are built to make artificial lakes. Solar power and wind power are growing rapidly, but from small bases.

天然氣一度看起來是中國減少對煤炭依賴的爲數不多的辦法之一。在日本福島核電站發生三重熔融事故之後，中國的核能項目放慢了步伐。擴大水力發電的努力則遭遇了環保方面的擔憂，而且爲了造湖而修建的水壩會導致人員遷徙，從而帶來巨大成本。太陽能和風能的確在迅速增長，但基礎太過薄弱。

The revised figures from Mr. Wu represented China’s first official acknowledgment of what Western experts have been saying for many months: The country will not approach the success of the United States in shale gas anytime soon.

吳新雄對天然氣產量預期的調整，意味着中國首次正式承認了西方國家的專家近段時間以來的說法：中國在短期內將無法觸及美國在頁岩氣領域的那種成就。

Shale gas deposits lie much deeper in China than in the United States, which greatly increases drilling costs. Chinese shale also tends to be laden with clay and is much wetter than American shale, making it harder to crack the shale and release the gas through pumping liquids and sand underground, the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

在中國，頁岩氣儲備的埋藏位置要比美國深得多，大大增加了開採成本。中國的頁岩層中還往往摻雜着大量泥土，且比美國的頁岩層潮溼得多，因此更加難以通過向地下泵入液體和沙子來壓裂頁岩以釋放其中的天然氣——也就是所謂的“水力壓裂”。

After 40 million years of powerful earthquakes as the Indian subcontinent plowed into southern Asia, the main shale gas seams in western China are jumbled underground, instead of lying flat like a stack of pancakes, as in the United States, said Jeff Layman, a partner in the Beijing office of Baker Botts, the big Houston energy law firm.

貝克博茨律師事務所(Baker Botts)北京辦公室的合夥人雷介福(Jeff Layman)表示，經過4000萬年印度次大陸擠入南亞板塊帶來的強烈地震，中國西部的主要頁岩氣層在地下混雜分佈，而不是像美國那樣，如同一摞薄餅平鋪在地底。貝克博茨律師事務所是總部位於休斯頓的大型能源律所。

In March, Sinopec, a Chinese oil giant, announced the country’s first commercially viable shale gas deposit, located outside Chongqing, and predicted annual production would reach a hefty 10 billion cubic meters by 2017. But the company has released few details, prompting foreign energy experts to begin asking whether all of the seams are truly shale, although Sinopec insists they are.

今年3月，中國石油業巨頭中石化宣佈，發現了國內首個具有商業價值的頁岩氣田，並預測到2017年，這個位於重慶郊外的頁岩氣田的年產量將達到頗爲可觀的100億立方米。但該公司沒有透露多少相關細節，使得外國能源專家開始懷疑，是否所有礦層都是純正的頁岩層，儘管中石化堅稱的確如此。

Neither Sinopec nor its rival, PetroChina, has announced any other large fields despite extensive drilling. Both of these state-controlled companies said in March that they were still drilling actively for shale gas in China even as they cut their worldwide exploration budgets for oil and gas after weak results.

雖然進行了大規模勘探，中石化及其競爭對手中石油都沒有宣佈發現了其他大型頁岩氣田。這兩家國企均在3月表示，它們仍在積極地進行國內的頁岩氣勘探工作，即便因爲收效甚微，它們削減了全球油氣勘探的預算。

Sinopec and PetroChina, which will hold earnings conferences on Monday and Thursday, respectively, are targets of broad government inquiries into possible corruption, including in their contracts with outside vendors. This has made their executives reluctant to approve further shale drilling contracts, said a Chinese oil industry executive who insisted on anonymity because of the legal issues involved.

中石化和中石油將分別於下週一和週四發佈財報。這兩家企業目前是政府廣泛調查的目標，涉及可能的腐敗行爲，包括它們與外部銷售商簽訂的合同。一名中國石油業高管表示，有鑑於此，公司管理層不願再批准開採頁岩氣的新合同。由於涉及法律問題，這名高管要求不具名。

China needs to develop better technology before tackling many of its shale deposits, said another executive, Yin Shenping, the chairman and chief executive of Recon Technology, a shale gas services company based in Beijing. “It’s obvious that the country has now decided to slow down the drilling process,” he said.

另一名高管——位於北京的頁岩氣服務公司研控科技的董事長兼首席執行官銀燊平——表示，中國需要開發更先進的技術，才能對很多國內頁岩氣田進行開採。他說，“很明顯，國家現在已經決定放緩開採過程。”

Lower expectations for shale gas have resulted in greater interest in another category of unconventional gas, so-called coal bed methane. In this process, natural gas is gathered by drilling into underground coal seams.

對頁岩氣的較低期望導致對另一種非常規天然氣的興趣上升，那就是煤層甲烷氣。在這種工藝中，通過鑽探地下煤層來採集天然氣。

The United States, Australia and other countries have used this method for several decades. But they often tap the natural gas before coal extraction begins, to reduce the risk that gas will explode in coal mines.

在過去數十年中，美國和澳大利亞等國一直在使用這個方法。但它們通常在煤炭開採開始之前採集天然氣，以減少煤礦中發生瓦斯爆炸的風險。

China’s dilemma is that many of its coal fields already have working mines. China has 13 percent of the world’s coal reserves but 47 percent of the world’s production. Many Chinese coal mine operators have opposed nearby coal bed methane production, fearing that pumping sand and chemicals into wells to liberate gas might have the unintended effect of driving gas into their mines.

中國面臨的兩難局面在於，很多礦區都已經有了經營中的煤礦。中國的煤炭儲量佔全世界的13%，但產量佔47%。中國的很多煤礦經營者反對在附近開採煤層氣，原因是擔心向礦井裏泵入沙子及化學品，從而釋放煤層氣的做法，可能會無意間令瓦斯流入礦井中。

The Chinese government has negotiated with mine operators and villages here in Shouyang, 220 miles southwest of Beijing, to authorize a large coal bed methane project, led by Far East Energy Corporation, based in Houston. Michael R. McElwrath, chief executive of Far East Energy, said he believed the project would improve coal field safety by removing explosive gas from subterranean seams.

爲了批准一個大型煤層氣項目，政府已經與壽陽的煤礦經營者及各村進行了談判。該項目將由總部位於休斯頓的遠東能源公司(Far East Energy Corporation)牽頭開展。遠東公司首席執行官邁克爾·R·麥克艾瑞思(Michael R. McElwrath)表示，他相信該項目能夠去除地下煤層中的爆炸性氣體，從而提高礦區的安全性。

But the Shouyang coal field is unusual within China because the coal is fairly permeable, allowing gas to flow underground. If there are no more discoveries of permeable coal, Mr. McElwrath said, “we will have a nice little project but the industry will not take off.”

但壽陽煤田的情況在中國並不常見，因爲這裏的煤層滲透性相當好，天然氣能夠在地下流動。麥克艾瑞思表示，如果不能發現更多滲透性好的煤田，“我們能開展一個非常棒的小項目，但這個行業不會崛起。”

Far East Energy faces its own issues. In June, the company announced that it had shut a quarter of its 160 wells for various reasons, such as gummy gels or a lack of gas-gathering pipelines; it plans to restart most of those wells later. “We are considering a variety of strategic transactions to fund the coming year’s drilling activities,” Mr. McElwrath said, declining to elaborate.

遠東能源公司也有自己的問題。今年6月，公司宣佈，出於膠體粘稠、缺少天然氣採集管道等原因，已經關閉了四分之一的礦井。該公司共有160個礦井，計劃稍後重啓其中的大部分。麥克艾瑞思表示，“我們正在考慮各種戰略性的交易，從而爲明年的開採活動籌集資金。”但他拒絕詳細說明。

Crews have been working here over the last several years, laboring in a countryside of yellow dirt so soft that even small streams cut steep-flanked gorges 50 feet deep or more. Some of the locally rented equipment uses designs seldom seen in the United States since World War II, an indication that China still lags in drilling rig technology. At each location, workers struggle with the many idiosyncrasies.

技術人員過去幾年一直在這片農村地區工作。這裏的黃土非常軟，即使是一條小河，都能衝出50英尺（約合15米）甚至更深的陡峭河谷。公司在當地租賃的設備中，有一些使用的設計，二戰以後在美國就很少見到了。這說明中國在鑽井技術方面還非常落後。在每個開採地點，技術人員都需要應對很多獨特的問題。

“In the United States, it comes to the surface easier,” said Robert Hockert, a longtime Wyoming shale gas and coal bed methane drilling manager who is now the China country manager for Far East Energy. “Here, you’ve got to work at it.”

遠東能源公司中國區經理羅伯特·霍克特(Robert Hockert)曾經長期在懷俄明州管理頁岩氣和煤層氣鑽探作業。霍克特說，“在美國，天然氣採上來比較容易。在這裏，得努力開採才行。”