Cipher Consulting has a few projects in Mongolia and because of this took part in the first annual donor coordination meeting, held virtually and hosted by the Australian Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The event took place on March 29, 2022, featuring two key presentations on the subject matter by the Mineral
Virtual Meeting on Mongolian Energy Transition and coalbed methane
Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), as well as, a short presentation by Australia Mongolia Extractives Program (AMEP 2). Energy transition is a growing national and global priority as governments seek alternative clean energy resources. Coalbed methane can be found wherever there is coal and has the potential to be developed as a clean energy supply to help replace other diminishing hydrocarbon reserves. Technological advances and methodologies are playing a greater role in harnessing this unconventional natural resource.
Ms. Sunjidmaa B., the Director of Petroleum Exploration Department of the MRPAM, highlighted the work that is being done by the Authority on identifying and improving geo-science data on CBM. This has been done in collaboration and support of AMEP 2 and aims to further enable prospecting analysis. Ms. Sunjidmaa B. also discussed production sharing agreements on CBM in Mongolia and how they are regulated. She mentioned the current CBM investment climate in Mongolia, highlighting six investment projects working in the south Gobi area.
South Gobi Region; Permian-age Delin Shan Formation. Photograph courtesy of Mike C. Friederich (2010).
ADB has been working with the Ministry of Energy in supporting a strategic study on CBM infrastructure and its supply chain for both heating and power demand. Ms. Jing in her presentation highlighted the importance of this sustainable approach given the country’s abundance of some 320 identified coal deposits with an estimated 150 billion tons of coal resources. She highlighted that although not all coal deposits are viable for methane exploitation and much more needs to be done in terms of geological data collection, infrastructure, and capital, it could prove to be a viable future solution.
Rena Guenduez, Team Leader for AMEP 2 highlighted the program’s continued support and collaboration related to and specifically focused on coalbed methane since 2019. Some activities have looked at CBM license overlaps, the tax regime, and, more recently, prospecting analysis. The meeting featured a lively discussion on CBM and some of the continued efforts by donors in the extractives sector.
For more information on the programs of AMEP please visit their website: https://www.amep.mn
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