Five international standards for natural gas, spearheaded by China, have been published.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has officially published five international standards in the natural gas sector, developed under China’s leadership. This “China‑led” set of standards is expected to provide technical support for the global energy market, helping to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance safety.

China’s leadership in developing international standards for natural gas will help facilitate the seamless entry of Chinese technologies and products into global markets through mutual recognition of standards, enabling end-to-end export across the entire value chain—technology, standards, products, and services—thereby enhancing the industry’s global competitiveness and eliminating data discrepancies and technical barriers.

Recently, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) officially published five international standards in the natural gas sector, developed under China’s leadership. This “Chinese solution,” which covers shale gas development, the clean utilization of sour gas reservoirs, and the product requirements for slickwater fluids, is expected to provide technical support—through precise quantitative metrics—for cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and enhanced safety in the global energy market.

At present, the global energy landscape is undergoing profound adjustments, and a modern era of cleaner, more diversified, and more efficient energy is accelerating. Zhou Li, Chief Engineer of the domestic technical counterpart organization for the International Organization for Standardization’s Natural Gas Technical Committee, stated that natural gas plays a dual role as both a “bridge” and a “stabilizer” in the future energy transition. On the one hand, its carbon emissions are significantly lower than those of coal and oil, enabling countries to effectively meet their emission‑reduction targets; on the other hand, renewable sources such as wind and solar power are characterized by volatility and intermittency, whereas natural‑gas‑fired generation offers rapid start‑up and shutdown capabilities and flexible dispatch, serving as a critical pillar for ensuring the safe and stable operation of the power system.

However, the exploration, development, and efficient utilization of natural gas resources still face numerous critical technological bottlenecks. Zhou Li explained that, in the development phase—taking shale gas as an example—the main challenges include the difficulty of identifying high‑quality reservoirs and the high costs associated with hydraulic fracturing. “One of the key technologies for shale‑gas development is large‑scale hydraulic fracturing, which involves using high‑pressure fluid injection to fracture underground rock formations and extract natural gas. Consequently, accurate identification of fracture stages and the quality of the fracturing fluid are of paramount importance,” Zhou Li said.

For another example, sulfur deposition is the “number-one troublemaker” in the development of high-sulfur gas fields. Sulfur buildup can clog wellbores and pipelines, corrode piping and equipment, and readily lead to reduced well productivity and accelerated equipment failure, resulting in economic and operational losses. Approximately 40% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves are located in high-sulfur reservoirs; due to sulfur-deposition challenges, these reservoirs are difficult to develop and have long remained largely untapped.

In the operational phase, taking cross-border pipelines as an example, one of the most significant risks is the real-time monitoring of corrosive gases such as hydrogen sulfide. “Traditional detection methods are slow and lack precision, often leading to pipeline corrosion or even unplanned shutdowns,” said Zhou Li. “This not only results in economic losses but also jeopardizes the security of energy supplies along the pipeline route.” He added that advancing technological innovation and standardization in the natural gas sector holds profound significance for safeguarding global energy security.

Addressing the challenges of identifying high‑quality reservoirs and the high costs of hydraulic fracturing in shale gas development, the newly released series of standards, “Determination and Calculation of Shale Brittleness Index,” for the first time establishes an internationally standardized technical framework for evaluating fracture‑inducibility. Implementation of these standards is expected to improve the accuracy of identifying premium shale reservoirs by 10% to 15%, thereby boosting the success rate of single‑well exploration and development from the industry average of 65% to over 85%. Moreover, by eliminating ineffective fracturing stages and reducing trial-and-error iterations, operating costs per shale gas well can be cut by 12% to 18%.

The newly released “Determination of Elemental Sulfur Solubility by the Saturation‑Dissolution Method” provides a scientific basis for safe and clean development. Leveraging this standard, it is possible to accurately predict sulfur deposition trends, establish dynamic early‑warning models for the development of sour gas fields, and generate critical performance indicators to optimize development plans—supporting an annual production increase of approximately 70 million cubic meters per field. Meanwhile, the standard “Laser Absorption Spectroscopy for the Determination of Hydrogen Sulfide” establishes an internationally harmonized technical specification with enhanced precision and efficiency for online natural gas monitoring, improving detection throughput by more than 60% compared with conventional methods and thereby ensuring reliable gas quality handover and stable supply along cross‑border pipelines.

Slush water is the primary working fluid used in hydraulic fracturing. The newly released “Performance Testing and Requirements for Slush Water” is China’s first internationally recognized product standard developed under its leadership in the shale gas sector. It systematically establishes, for the first time, standardized methods for testing slush‑water performance and clear quality requirements, raising the accuracy of laboratory‑based performance assessments to over 90% and significantly reducing trade and arbitration disputes arising from inconsistent data. This provides a fair and impartial “international language” for the global oil‑and‑gas‑field chemicals trade, which exceeds US$10 billion annually.

“China’s leadership in developing international standards for natural gas is a strategic choice that aligns with the overarching trend of energy transition, safeguards national energy security, and enables deeper participation in global governance in the energy sector,” said Zhou Li. By translating domestically proven technologies into international norms—harmonizing technical parameters, standardizing exploration and development practices, and enhancing supply efficiency—this approach can ensure a stable natural gas supply and support the global shift toward clean, low‑carbon energy. Moreover, the international outreach of these standards can facilitate the seamless entry of Chinese technologies and products into global markets through mutual recognition, fostering end‑to‑end export chains that integrate technology, standards, products, and services. This not only strengthens the industry’s global competitiveness but also helps eliminate data discrepancies and technical barriers, reduce trade‑related disputes, and help build a fairer, more equitable new order in international trade.

According to reports, to date, China has taken the lead in developing and publishing 14 international standards in the natural gas sector, and has successfully promoted the adoption of these China‑initiated standards by more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Belarus, South Korea, and Kenya. An official from the Standards Innovation Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation stated that, going forward, China will continue to use high standards to drive high quality, translating innovative achievements in areas such as shale gas and deep‑buried natural gas into international standards, thereby contributing an indispensable “Chinese voice” to building a global energy governance system that is secure, stable, and efficient. (Reporter: Guo Jingyuan)

Source: Economic Daily