Mongolian gas flows surge as TMK Energy field comes alive

TMK Energy has chalked up another production milestone at its 100 per cent-owned Gurvantes XXXV coal seam gas (CSG) project in Mongolia, with flows showing an 11 per cent increase on August’s daily average and continuing to build across its production pilot.

Average gas production over the past week surged to more than 900 cubic metres per day, or 32,000 standard cubic feet per day (scfd). Gas rates have now climbed more than 350 per cent during the past 12 months.

More significantly, three wells across TMK’s seven-well pilot, in addition to the company’s standout LF-07 well, are now pumping at record highs. The company says the improved performance points to growing gas desorption across the entire field, strengthening the case that the production uplift is spreading well beyond its best-performing well.

For CSG, the progression matters. Pumping water from the coal seams lowers reservoir pressure until methane detaches from the coal and begins flowing. TMK’s pilot has previously shown the combination reservoir engineers want to see – sustained water production, falling pressure and rising gas rates – while pressure communication between wells suggested they were interacting through the reservoir rather than behaving as isolated pockets.

That feeds directly into Gurvantes’ enduring technical question: repeatability. LF-07 became TMK’s benchmark after improved drilling, completion and pump settings delivered a stronger response. The commercial test is whether those lessons can be translated across enough wells to deliver predictable gas volumes over time.

The latest results move that test forward, with management saying the continuing month-on-month production rise strongly indicates the pilot will reach the minimum commercial flow rates required to support full-field development.

The company describes Gurvantes as the most successful operating CSG pilot well project in Mongolia, with the new production breakthrough pushing the project another step along its development path.

TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson said: “With yet another material, but sustained bump in gas production rates at the Pilot Well Project over the last week, our confidence in the commercial potential of the enormous Gurvantes XXXV Coal Seam Gas Project continues to grow.”

TMK’s growing confidence is about to face another test, as the company prepares to roll out a drilling and re-completion campaign as part of its broader 2026 work program. Earlier updates outlined one new production well using an optimised design based on lessons from LF-07, alongside re-completions of LF-02, LF-03 and LF-06. Two of those wells are among the three setting records.

Another key 2026 deliverable is the proposed 1-megawatt gas-to-power project with local partner Dashvaanjil Group, designed to turn pilot gas into electricity and provide an early commercial outlet.