TMK Energy has turned on the jets with a new record month of gas production, in which it boosted output by 10 per cent to more than 10,000 cubic metres of gas from its Pilot Well project in southern Mongolia.
The project, which is part of the company’s wider Gurvantes XXXV coal seam gas project, also smashed out a new record daily gas volume during the month.
Management says the first occurrence of gas slugs, which are large high-pressure bubbles of gas forming in its Lucky Fox wells LF-04 and LF-06, imply the pilot well program is heading towards critical desorption pressure.
It believes the reservoir pressure is continuing to decline towards the critical desorption level, providing an overall improvement in the depressurisation of the reservoir. The decline was confirmed last month by a pressure build-up test.
The company plans to conduct a further pressure build-up test on its LF-02 well for a comparison with readings taken about 12 months ago to check the progress made towards reaching critical desorption pressure.
The test should provide definitive readings of the reservoir pressure and point to where it sits relative to the targeted critical desorption pressure.
The project continues to show encouraging signs with many of the pilot production wells delivering record monthly gas rates together with the first evidence of gas slugging from the coal seams, indicating we are progressing towards critical desorption pressure.
TMK Energy’s chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson
One of its key objectives this year is to reduce the reservoir pressure below the critical desorption pressure, which is one reason why the company drilled the three additional production wells. Gas rates are anticipated to increase substantially when the objective is achieved.
Management has begun planning for at least one additional pilot production well in the immediate vicinity of the existing Lucky Fox wells.
An additional well will assist in meeting the company’s licence commitment for further pilot wells this year and boost the production capacity at the complex.
TMK believes it can start to drill the additional well before the end of June, which would help to lift its production volumes and potentially add to gas sales under its gas sales agreement with Jens Energie LLC.
Additional wells help provide the extra pumping capacity needed to quickly reach the critical desorption pressures for the project to deliver an immediate uplift in gas production.
TMK recently implemented advanced Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) technology in wells LF-05 and LF-06 to provide it with valuable information on reservoir productivity.
Final DTS analysis confirms most of the water is being produced from the coal seams, not from adjacent aquifers or non-coal bearing zones, providing strong indication of coal seam permeability.
The DTS technology is designed to identify zones of increased gas and water influx or permeability, for increased economic viability.
The company’s new production record was achieved despite one of its better production wells, LF-05, recording significant downtime for a pump clean-out and workover.
LF-05 is the sole well not producing while remedial actions are being taken to bring it back into production.
The company expects to shortly produce commercial rates of gas from the project across 60 square kilometres in the Nariin Sukhait area of Mongolia’s vast countryside.
The company’s contingent resource (2C) of 1214 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas is Mongolia’s biggest. The project currently contains a 5300BCF prospective resource across its total 8400-square-kilometre ground.
Like many nations, Mongolia is keen to transition away from energy produced from burning coal. Coal seam gas is considered ideal as a “clean transition fuel” because it produces about half the carbon emissions produced by coal-generated electricity and burns cleaner than other fossil fuels.
TMK believes its Gurvantes XXXV project can become a regionally significant, reliable source of natural gas for both Mongolia’s domestic market and regional energy infrastructure.
The project’s proximity to northern China’s gas pipelines places TMK in a pre-eminent position.
With TMK’s production numbers ramping higher every month, the company is well-placed to become a leading energy contributor to the region.

Published Date:2025-04-07