Shale gas production in China, holding the world’s biggest shale reserves, surged by more than five times last year to 200 MMcm, according to the Land and Resources Ministry.
PetroChina Co.’s Changning-Weiyuan and Fushun-Yongchuan areas, along with the Fuling block operated by China Petrochemical Corp., known as Sinopec Group, have built new production capacity of 600 MMcm, the ministry said in a statement on its website today. Output was about 30 MMcm in 2012, according to Bao Shujing, a director at the ministry’s geological research bureau.
China’s government has pledged to spur the shale industry’s development and meet rising gas demand by prioritizing land approvals, allowing tax-free imports of equipment and offering subsidies to explorers. The country is pumping more than 2 MMcm/d of shale gas, the National Energy Administration said on its website yesterday. Sinopec plans to produce 3.2 Bcm from Fuling in 2015, doubling its previous target, it said.
Oil and natural gas output hit record highs last year, according to the ministry. Production of crude rose 1.8% to 210 million metric tons while conventional gas increased 9.8% to 117.7 Bcm.
PetroChina and Sinopec’s output may determine if China will reach its 2015 shale-gas production target of 6.5 Bcm, said Gordon Kwan, the regional head of oil and gas research at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong.
“Long term, we believe the government must raise domestic selling prices for natural gas and increase shale-gas subsidies further to motivate producers,” he said by e-mail today.
That target may be hard to reach as development has been slow, Zhang Yousheng, a researcher with the National Development and Reform Commission, said on Oct. 16.
Recommended Reading
CERAWeek: Tecpetrol CEO Touts Argentina Conventional, Unconventional Potential
2024-03-28 - Tecpetrol CEO Ricardo Markous touted Argentina’s conventional and unconventional potential saying the country’s oil production would nearly double by 2030 while LNG exports would likely evolve over three phases.
DUG GAS+: Chesapeake in Drill-but-don’t-turn-on Mode
2024-03-28 - COO Josh Viets said Chesapeake is cutting costs and ready to take advantage once gas prices rebound.
CERAWeek: Trinidad Energy Minister on LNG Restructuring, Venezuelan Gas Supply
2024-03-28 - Stuart Young, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Energy, discussed with Hart Energy at CERAWeek by S&P Global, the restructuring of Atlantic LNG, the geopolitical noise around inking deals with U.S.-sanctioned Venezuela and plans to source gas from Venezuela and Suriname.
Exclusive: Chevron Balancing Low Carbon Intensity, Global Oil, Gas Needs
2024-03-28 - Colin Parfitt, president of midstream at Chevron, discusses how the company continues to grow its traditional oil and gas business while focusing on growing its new energies production, in this Hart Energy Exclusive interview.
Baltimore Port Closure Could Dent US Coal Export Volumes, EIA Says
2024-03-28 - Baltimore handled exports of 28 million short tons last year, making up 28% of total U.S. coal exports.