China leads five new ISO standards in natural gas sector

(ECNS) - The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has issued five international standards in the natural gas sector led by China, according to media reports.

The standards cover shale gas development, hydraulic fracturing fluids and sulfur-containing natural gas monitoring.

One set of standards focuses on calculating shale brittleness, aimed at improving the identification of high-quality reservoirs and reducing production costs.

Zhou Li, head of a domestic technical body linked to the ISO natural gas committee, said each standard was supported by at least 10,000 data sets and was particularly important for maintaining stable shale gas output in later-stage development.

Chinese officials said the standards could improve the accuracy of identifying shale reservoirs and increase the success rate of single-well exploration, while helping lower drilling costs.

Two additional standards address sulfur-rich gas fields, including hydrogen sulfide monitoring. One establishes optical detection methods with response times of under five seconds.

ISO standards are widely used as benchmarks in global energy markets.

China has now led the formulation of 14 international standards in the natural gas sector, state media said, with some adopted in more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa.

(By Zhang Jiahao)