March 21 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, Russia's largest energy company, said methane captured from underground coal mines may provide a ``serious'' addition to resources as producing natural- gas fields in Siberia decline.
The state-run gas exporter plans to take the first steps toward producing methane from coal seams this year or next, the Moscow-based company said in an e-mailed statement today after Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Ananenkov met with the governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region.
The gas reserves held in Russia's coal seams may stand at 49 trillion cubic meters, equal to about a fifth of the country's reserves in conventional fields, Gazprom said. The gas producer, which also owns oil and electricity assets, is seeking to become Russia's largest coal miner after pooling assets with OAO Siberian Coal Energy Co., also known as SUEK.
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