ASTANA – Delegations from Satbayev Kazakh National Research and Technical University and the ArcelorMittal Temirtau company recently visited the China Coal Technology & Engineering Group (CCTEG) in China, where they signed a trilateral cooperation agreement. The agreement will increase the commercial production of methane in Kazakhstan.
Photo credit: kursiv.kz.
Under the agreement, CCTEG and Satbayev University will conduct joint research in the exploration and production of coal methane, the implementation of investment projects in processing and liquefying natural gas (LNG), gas compression, training of professional staff, undergraduates and doctoral students.
“This is a very important agreement for our country. Kazakhstan possesses large deposits of methane, the extraction technology of which is quite complicated, and it was, therefore, believed that it is as unlikely as science fiction to produce methane and earn on methane production. Not only access to the best technologies of China for methane production, but also a training for our engineers can help the country,” said Managing Director of Satbayev University Chingiz Cherniyazdanov.
The delegation held a presentation of the implemented projects on the exploration and production of coal methane. Engineers from Satbayev University got acquainted with Chinese technologies used in the construction and testing of wells for the extraction of coal methane. Under the agreement, the parties also agreed to launch training at the Coal Technology & Engineering Group for Kazakh engineers.
Coal Technology & Engineering Group is a national Chinese corporation that holds a leading position in the Chinese coal industry. The corporation employs more than 30,000 employees. Its aggregate revenue for 2017 amounted to more than $6 billion. According to the CCTEG data, the production of coal methane in China has now reached about 17 billion cubic metres per year.
