TMK Energy has smashed another gas production record, pumping out 500 cubic metres of gas a day across successive days from its Pilot Well project, part of its Gurvantes XXXV coal seam gas project in southern Mongolia.
The company is also on track to punch out yet another record with its November gas production.
TMK Energy has smashed another gas production record at its Pilot Well project, part of the company’s wider Gurvantes XXXV coal seam gas project in southern Mongolia.
TMK Energy has smashed another gas production record at its Pilot Well project, part of the company’s wider Gurvantes XXXV coal seam gas project in southern Mongolia.
November gas production to-date is averaging about 480 cubic metres of gas per day and if it continues to produce at this level, it will put October’s record average of 395 cubic metres of gas per day firmly in the shade.
The 21 per cent increase above the current record for average daily production continues the strong output of the Lucky Fox wells within the Pilot Well project, as TMK moves closer towards the desorption pressure required to significantly increase gas volumes.
The company says the path to achieving the required desorption pressure is now clearer after recent reservoir modelling, along with a review of detailed subsurface data.
‘The revised reservoir management plan is clearly having a positive impact with gas production rates increasing month on month.’
TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson
One of its key objectives this year has been to reduce the reservoir pressure below the critical desorption pressure, which is one reason why the company drilled additional production wells this year.
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. Gas rates are anticipated to increase substantially when the objective is achieved.
TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson said: “Achieving the first of what we expect will be one of many production milestones, is a great effort by the technical and operations team. The revised reservoir management plan is clearly having a positive impact with gas production rates increasing month on month.”
Ferguson said water production is continuing at rates of over 500 barrels per day, which is what is required to continue depressurising the reservoir toward desorption. Dewatering helps to lower the pressure, causing the gas to desorb from the coal seams. Recent analysis confirmed the majority of the water is being produced from the coal seams, not from adjacent aquifers or non-coal bearing zones, providing a strong indication of coal seam permeability.
A technical workshop was held in Beijing last week, where the results of the recent work was reviewed by TMK’s management and J-Energy, the company’s strategic alliance partner.
Notably, the workshop validated the merits of the project and confirmed the economic potential of the project’s massive gas resource. TMK plans to use knowledge garnered from the workshop to assist with implementation of its 2026 work program and company budget, in addition to formulating a strategic plan to how best commercialise its gas when significant quantities of gas are produced.
It expects to produce gas at a commercial scale next year from the project spanning 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.
Management believes the reservoir modelling will allow it to move quickly towards a pre-feasibility study, which will include well spacings and design, predict gas drainage patterns and forecast productivity of the projects’ Lucky Fox wells.
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.
With the project close to the global powerhouse that is China and its northern gas pipelines, the company is in a premier position as a future producer of a commercial scale gas supply.
TMK believes its Gurvantes XXXV project can become a regionally significant, reliable source of natural gas for both Mongolia’s domestic market and the wider regions energy infrastructure.

Published Date:2025-11-18