Chapter 175 Energy (I)

Li Qingye in Medan Island received reports from Chen Jianxiong and Domino. After reading them, he was very satisfied with the progress of the Security Department.
Then he input his instructions into the headset, asking Garfield to reply to the two of them as soon as possible.
He himself continued with the work at hand.
At this time, he was in the Zamboanga area of ​​Medan Island, where there is a methane fermentation plant and the research base is next to the methane fermentation plant.
The base has a 30-meter-high dome steel structure that tightly wraps the interior and is claimed to be a new type of methane fermentation pool.
Three recent graduates recruited from China Petroleum University and two veteran engineers recruited from Shengli Oilfield are busy drilling wells.
They have already been naturalized as Luzon citizens and even brought their families here so that they can participate in this project.
Veteran engineer Qi Yuanchao and his wife Zhang Hong are both veteran engineers of Shengli Oilfield. One is engaged in drilling and the other in geological survey. Both have been retired for several years.
The couple actually didn’t want to come to Luzon, but fate played a trick on them. Their only son got lung cancer, which almost used up their life savings, and they had grandchildren waiting to be raised .
With no other choice, the couple could only go back to their old job, but no one in the country would hire a retired elderly person. Even if they did, the salary would not be that high, and the couple were not the kind of people who would seek personal gain.
Finally, the HR department of Zhiren Company came to visit them in person, and the couple was tempted by the real money.
After arriving in Luzon, his son was quickly admitted to the hospital of the Homo Sapiens Company.
Li Qingye even took action personally once, using genetic technology to cultivate a gene bomb that specifically restrained his lung cancer cells, directly killing the cancer cells in Qi Yuanchao's son's body.
Seeing their son gradually recovering, Qi Yuanchao and his wife also returned the favor by not only helping the Zhiren Company explore for oil and natural gas, but also helping to train some newcomers and write some teaching materials.
At this time, the drilling equipment in the base had already drilled to about 300 meters underground.
Qi Yuanchao and Zhang Hong carefully examined the removed rock core.
"Teacher, this should be oil-bearing shale, right?" asked another young prospective engineer.
Qi Yuanchao nodded: "Yes, starting from 273 meters, it is oil-bearing shale. Now we need to see how thick it is."
The equipment continued to drill downward, and over time, until it reached a depth of 362 meters, where the oil-bearing shale was interrupted.
They also looked at cores from five other wells.
As Zhang Hong wrote down the data, she said: "The average depth of the oil-bearing shale in this area is between 260 and 370 meters, and the thickness is about 90 to 110 meters. It is a good shale oil reservoir."
The reason why the Sapiens company has set its sights on shale oil and shale gas is mainly because the natural gas and oil reserves in Luzon are too small, and the only natural gas field that can be mined on a large scale is on the verge of depletion.
Although Sapiens' methane production in Luzon now reaches 6.7 billion cubic meters per month, this amount is still too small.
As for Malaysia's oil and natural gas, they will also be exhausted. In addition, many of the oil and gas fields there have been contracted by European and American companies. Without the ability to default on the contracts, Malaysia's oil and gas supply is insufficient.
Especially Siam and Hongsavady, which are also areas with relatively poor oil and natural gas resources.
It is obviously too much to rely on Malaysia to support three countries.
Therefore, the Sapiens company must find ways to tap into its own potential resources.
Because the Luzon Islands are located at the junction of plates, it is basically difficult for large oil and natural gas reservoirs to appear, but this does not mean that Luzon has no potential for fossil fuel mining.
Frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions will cause the destruction of oil and natural gas reservoirs, making it difficult to form large oil fields.
However, the igneous rock layer formed by volcanic eruptions is a kind of porous rock with sparse interior. Therefore, the destroyed and divided oil and gas will gradually transfer to the pores of some igneous rocks during the long-term geological movement, forming oil-bearing igneous rock layers.
Another part is shale, which is also a good oil-storing rock.
Now the focus of the Sapiens company is to search for these two rock formations in Luzon.
There are many igneous rocks on Luzon Island, and a large number of shales on Medan Island.
As for how to mine.
This is why Li Qingye came here.
After identifying the oil-bearing shale layer, technicians and engineers quickly installed gas extraction pipes and water injection pipes.
Li Qingye injected the improved version of genetically modified methanogens and special hormones into the water tank.
“Let’s get started!”
"Yes, Dr. Li."
The identity of this person is Dr. Li Min, who studies genetically modified methanogens. This is also one of Li Qingye’s aliases.
The technician flipped the switch.
Everyone watched as the aqueous solution in the tank rapidly decreased and was pressed into the underground oil-bearing shale through the injection pipe.
As time goes by, the gas pressure sensor in the gas extraction pipeline begins to feedback signals of increased downhole pressure.
Even without starting the vacuum pump, large amounts of methane begin to bubble up from the bottom of the well.
"The gas output has reached 400 cubic meters per day... and it is still increasing."
"It has exceeded the limit of 1,000 cubic meters per day..."
After more than three hours of testing, the five wells were able to produce 170,000 cubic meters of methane per day, and the pressure was very stable, with little need for active pumping.
It only requires regular injection of a certain amount of genetically modified methanogens and growth hormones , and methane production will not stop until the organic matter in this underground shale is completely consumed.
"Compared with North America's shale oil production technology, the cost of biodegradation is much cheaper." Qi Yuanchao raised his glasses and sighed.
Apart from the initial exploration and drilling expenses, pipeline laying and auxiliary equipment, the other costs of a well are very small.
Qi Yuanchao estimated in his mind and found that if the current daily output of this gas well could be maintained, the cost would be around 3 to 5 US dollars per thousand cubic meters.
This cost is already very low.
The domestic coalbed methane production cost is approximately US$270 to US$280 per thousand cubic meters; while the domestic natural gas production cost is approximately US$45 per thousand cubic meters.
The production cost of shale gas in North America is between US$70 and US$280 per thousand cubic meters; the production cost of shale oil is around US$30 per barrel.
The reason why it can be so low-cost is mainly because the biological decomposition method of the Sapiens company does not require the use of thermal fracturing, which is a relatively energy-intensive method.
Thermal fracturing requires not only high temperatures but also special solvents, which require a constant supply.
The genetically modified methane bacteria and growth hormones used in the biodegradation method do have a service life, but this is a self-limitation specifically set to prevent the genetically modified methane bacteria from escaping and reproducing in nature.
Typically, one serving of genetically modified methanogens and growth hormones can maintain activity for about 30 days.
After the well is drilled, as long as genetically modified methanogens and growth hormones are introduced, methane can be produced continuously and at low cost.
In fact, this technology can also be used in the extraction of highly viscous oil and coal, converting them into methane that will overflow on its own, which can effectively reduce production costs.
Moreover, the pollution is very small. The improved version of genetically modified methane will completely consume all organic matter in the reservoir and will not leave any pollutants.
Of course, if this mining method is used in coal mines, it is likely to cause large-scale landslides.
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