According to a report by The Paper, the Ministry of Science and Technology recently issued a notice approving the establishment of a National Key Laboratory for Natural Gas Hydrates, to be based at the CNOOC Research Institute.

In the document, the Ministry of Science and Technology points out that enterprise-based national key laboratories are an important and key component of the national innovation system. Their primary mission is to address the needs of strategic emerging industries and industrial development, with the goal of enhancing enterprises’ independent innovation capabilities and core competitiveness. To this end, they conduct basic and applied basic research as well as research and development of common and critical technologies. They also work on formulating international standards, national standards, and industry standards; attract and cultivate outstanding talents; and lead and drive technological advancement within their respective industries.

Natural gas hydrates, also known as "combustible ice," are ice-like crystalline substances formed under high-pressure and low-temperature conditions from water and natural gas. They feature high calorific value, low pollution levels, and vast reserves, and are regarded by various countries as a strategic alternative energy source to oil and natural gas for the future.

In fact, in China, the Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology under the China Geological Survey has taken the lead in research on natural gas hydrates. According to reports, to explore the formation processes and evolutionary patterns of combustible ice, the institute established a simulation laboratory and has been quietly working on this front for 17 years, successfully reconstructing the “past and present” of combustible ice’s generation and release. This work has become a crucial scientific and technological support for China’s exploration and development of combustible ice. The institute’s natural gas hydrate laboratory was founded in 2000—slightly earlier than the launch of the national natural gas hydrate resource survey project. Building on this foundation, in May 2012, the Key Laboratory for Natural Gas Hydrates of the Ministry of Land and Resources was officially approved for construction. On June 25, 2015, the “Key Laboratory for Natural Gas Hydrates of the Ministry of Land and Resources” at the Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology under the China Geological Survey successfully passed the on-site expert evaluation and was officially unveiled.

Since the approval of the construction of the Key Laboratory for Natural Gas Hydrates under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Land and Resources, the laboratory has been focusing on the cutting edge of international natural gas hydrate research, addressing major national energy strategy needs. Relying on extensive domestic and international collaborations as well as independent innovation, the laboratory has specialized in simulation-based experimental studies of natural gas hydrates, emphasizing foresight, fundamental research, strategic relevance, and innovation. As a result, it has produced a series of research findings with broad application prospects and has preliminarily established an experimental platform for natural gas hydrates that reaches internationally advanced standards.

On May 10 of this year, the first test ignition for the natural gas hydrate exploration and production project in China’s South China Sea was successfully carried out. The trial production concluded on July 9, with the well being shut in after a 60-day operation. During this period, the cumulative gas production exceeded 300,000 cubic meters, achieving several major breakthroughs, including the longest continuous gas production duration, the largest total gas output, stable gas flow, and environmental safety. This marks a world record for both the duration and total volume of gas production. This successful trial extraction represents the first-ever domestic and global achievement in safely and controllably exploiting mudstone-siltstone-type natural gas hydrates—resources that account for more than 90% of the world’s reserves and pose the greatest development challenges.

On June 2, Li Jinfā, Deputy Director of the China Geological Survey and Deputy Head of the Coordination Leading Group for the Trial Extraction of Natural Gas Hydrates, stated at a press conference that China’s domestic natural gas hydrate resources have enormous potential. Preliminary estimates indicate that the reserves of natural gas hydrates in China’s offshore waters amount to approximately 80 billion tons of oil equivalent.

On September 22, during the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Ocean Pioneer Project, the new-generation Chinese oceanographic research vessel “Kexue” detected two sites of exposed gas hydrates on the seafloor at a depth of approximately 1,100 meters in the South China Sea. This marks the first time that scientists have discovered “combustible ice” exposed on the seafloor in China’s South China Sea waters.

In November, the State Council officially approved the inclusion of combustible ice as a new mineral resource, making it China’s 173rd mineral species. Ju Jianhua, Director of the Department of Mineral Resource Reserves at the Ministry of Natural Resources, stated that designating natural gas hydrates as a new mineral resource will help accelerate the exploration and development of natural gas hydrate resources, diversify investment entities in exploration and development, and promote technological innovation in the exploration and extraction of natural gas hydrates. In this process, the development and utilization of this new mineral resource will drive the growth of related industries, boosting demand for equipment manufacturing in drilling and production, pipeline network construction, engineering construction, liquefied natural gas vessels, specialized technologies and equipment for unconventional gas exploration and development, and ultimately forming a complete industrial chain spanning upstream exploration and development, midstream transportation and storage, and downstream comprehensive utilization.

Thanks to its advantages such as low carbon emissions, environmental friendliness, and abundant reserves, combustible ice has gained market recognition. Several countries and regions around the world are currently conducting research, surveys, and exploration efforts on combustible ice. According to reports, based on China's current status in combustible ice research, technological reserves, and development capabilities, China is expected to achieve industrial-scale development of combustible ice around 2030.

The extraction of combustible ice is a global challenge, a difficulty dictated by its formation mechanism as well as its physical and chemical properties. Combustible ice is deeply buried in cold, high-pressure environments—either on the ocean floor or in high-latitude permafrost regions on land. The theoretical framework for its accumulation and its fundamental physicochemical properties remain unclear, making extraction extremely difficult and costly. On the ocean floor, natural gas hydrates are typically found embedded in silty clayey sediments. Once a borehole is poorly sealed, large volumes of seawater can flood in, potentially triggering widespread instability, releasing massive amounts of greenhouse gases, and even causing submarine landslides and more severe disasters. In permafrost and sandy-clayey soils, natural gas hydrates are mixed with sand and gravel; during extraction, once sand begins to flow out, it becomes exceedingly difficult to manage. Moreover, once natural gas hydrates are brought to the surface, if the pipelines are not properly sealed and protected, methane gas can easily leak out. The core challenge in extracting combustible ice lies in ensuring that the process is orderly and controllable, without triggering secondary geological hazards or other unforeseen disasters. △