Homo Sapiens

On Cianlan Island, Li Qingye received reports from Chen Jianxiong and Domino. After reviewing them, he was very satisfied with the progress of the security division.

He then relayed his instructions into his earpiece, having Gafei reply to the two of them as soon as possible.

As for himself, he continued with the work at hand.

He was currently in the Sanbao Yan District on Cianlan Island, where a methane fermentation plant had been established. The research base was located right next to it.

The base featured a thirty-meter-high steel dome that completely enclosed the interior. The official story was that it was a new type of methane fermentation tank.

Three recent graduates recruited from Huaguo Petroleum University, along with two veteran engineers poached from Shengli Oilfield, were busy drilling wells.

They had already obtained Luzon citizenship and even brought their families over, which were prerequisites for their participation in the project.

The veteran engineer, Qi Yuanchao, and his wife, Zhang Hong, were both former senior engineers from Shengli Oilfield. He specialized in drilling, while she focused on geological surveying. Both had been retired for several years.

The couple hadn’t actually wanted to come to Luzon, but as fate would have it, their only son was diagnosed with lung cancer. The treatment had depleted nearly their entire life’s savings, and they still had grandchildren to support.

Left with no other choice, the two had to return to their old profession. But who back home would hire retired workers? Even if someone did, the pay wouldn’t be much, and the couple weren’t the type to pull strings or play politics.

Eventually, the human resources department of Homo Sapiens Company paid them a personal visit. Faced with a very generous offer, the couple was finally swayed.

After they arrived in Luzon, their son was quickly admitted to a hospital run by Homo Sapiens Company.

Li Qingye even intervened personally, using genetic engineering to develop a ”gene bomb” specifically designed to target the lung cancer cells, completely eradicating them from Qi Yuanchao’s son’s body.

Seeing their son gradually recover, Qi Yuanchao and his wife were eager to repay the kindness. They not only helped Homo Sapiens Company explore for oil and natural gas but also took on the roles of mentoring new staff and compiling training materials.

By now, the drilling equipment at the base had reached a depth of over three hundred meters.

Qi Yuanchao and Zhang Hong carefully inspected the extracted rock core.

”Sir, this should be oil-bearing shale, right?” another young junior engineer asked.

Qi Yuanchao nodded. ”Yes. It’s oil-bearing shale starting at 273 meters. Now we need to see how thick the layer is.”

The equipment continued to drill. After some time, the layer of oil-bearing shale ended at a depth of 362 meters.

They then checked the rock cores from the other five wells.

Zhang Hong noted the data and said, ”The oil-bearing shale in this area has an average depth of 260 to 370 meters and a thickness of around 90 to 110 meters. It’s a decent shale oil reservoir.”

Homo Sapiens Company had targeted shale oil and gas mainly because Luzon’s conventional oil and natural gas reserves were far too small. Its only large-scale natural gas field was already on the verge of depletion.

Although Homo Sapiens Company was now producing 6.7 billion cubic meters of methane per month in Luzon, this volume was still insufficient.

As for Malaysia’s oil and natural gas, those resources were finite and would eventually be depleted. Furthermore, many of the oil and gas fields there were already contracted to companies from Europe and America. Since Homo Sapiens Company couldn’t just renege on those contracts, Malaysia’s supply was inadequate.

Siam and Hongsawaddy, in particular, were also regions with scarce oil and gas resources.

Expecting the Malaysia Branch to support the other three regions was clearly an unreasonable burden.

Therefore, Homo Sapiens Company had to find a way to exploit its own potential resources.

Because the Luzon Islands are situated on a tectonic plate boundary, it is difficult for large oil and gas reservoirs to form there. However, that didn’t mean Luzon lacked potential for fossil fuel extraction.

Frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions tend to disrupt oil and gas reservoirs, making it hard for large oil fields to form.

However, the igneous rock layers created by volcanic eruptions are highly porous. Over vast geological timescales, the displaced and fragmented oil and gas gradually migrate into the pores of these igneous rocks, forming oil-bearing igneous rock layers.

Certain types of shale are also excellent reservoir rocks for oil.

Homo Sapiens Company was now focused on finding these two types of rock formations in Luzon.

Luzon Island had significant igneous rock deposits, while Cianlan Island had substantial shale formations.

As for how to extract these resources...

That was precisely why Li Qingye was here.

After confirming the location of the oil-bearing shale layer, the technicians and engineers quickly installed gas extraction and water injection pipelines.

Li Qingye added an improved strain of transgenic methanogens, along with special hormones, into a water tank.

”Let’s begin.”

”Yes, Dr. Li.”

The identity he was using for this visit was Dr. Li Min, a researcher specializing in transgenic methanogens. This was one of Li Qingye’s many aliases.

A technician pressed the switch.

Everyone watched as the solution in the tank rapidly drained, pumped through the injection pipeline and down into the oil-bearing shale.

As time went on, the gas pressure sensor on the extraction pipeline began to register a rise in downhole pressure.

They didn’t even need to activate the extraction pump; large quantities of methane began to flow continuously up from the bottom of the well.

”Gas output has reached 400 cubic meters per day... and it’s still rising.”

”It’s surpassed the 1,000 cubic meters per day mark...”

After more than three hours of testing, the five wells were producing 170,000 cubic meters of methane per day. The pressure was extremely stable, requiring almost no active pumping.

As long as they periodically injected a certain amount of the transgenic methanogens and growth hormones, methane production would not cease until all the organic matter in the subterranean shale was consumed.

”Compared to North American shale oil production techniques, the cost of this biological decomposition method is far, far lower,” Qi Yuanchao remarked, pushing up his glasses.

Aside from the initial costs for exploration, drilling, pipeline installation, and auxiliary equipment, the ongoing operational costs for each well were minimal.

Qi Yuanchao did a quick mental calculation. If the current daily output could be maintained, the production cost for this gas field would be roughly three to five US dollars per thousand cubic meters.

This was an incredibly low cost.

In Huaguo, the production cost for coalbed methane was around 270 to 280 US dollars per thousand cubic meters, while conventional natural gas was about 45 US dollars per thousand cubic meters.

North American shale gas production costs ranged from 70 to 280 US dollars per thousand cubic meters, and shale oil production was about 30 US dollars per barrel.

The reason for such low costs was that Homo Sapiens Company’s biological decomposition method didn’t require energy-intensive techniques like thermal fracturing.

Thermal fracturing requires not only high temperatures but also special solvents, all of which must be supplied continuously.

In contrast, while the transgenic methanogens and growth hormones used in the biological decomposition method had a limited lifespan, this was a deliberate, built-in failsafe to prevent them from propagating in the wild should they ever escape.

Typically, a single application of the transgenic methanogens and growth hormones would remain active for about thirty days.

Once a well was drilled, they could achieve continuous, low-cost methane production simply by introducing the transgenic methanogens and growth hormones.

In fact, this technology could also be applied to extract highly viscous oil or even coal by converting them into methane, which would then flow out on its own, effectively reducing production costs.

Moreover, the pollution was minimal. The improved transgenic methanogens would completely consume all organic matter in the reservoir, leaving no pollutants behind.

Of course, if this extraction method were used on coal seams, it could potentially cause large-scale collapses.