According to the exploration and exploitation data collected from the Jin-Shaan-Meng area (Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia provinces), the authors comprehensively analyzed various factors influencing coalbed methane (CBM) exploration potential. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to define twelve indices for the assessment of CBM exploration potential. Then, a corresponding weight was assigned to each index, and based on the expert opinion, a comprehensive evaluation index system was thus established. Through an analysis of the gray character of evaluation objects, a multi-layered evaluation model was built for the assessment of CBM exploration potential by using AHP and grey clustering methods. As a case study, the model was applied to the assessment of CBM exploration potential in four CBM zones in the study area. The results show that exploration potential of the shallow layers is large, while that of the deeper layers is small as a whole.
