China's Fuling Shale Gas Output Doubled

Sinopec’s Fuling shale gas field produced 3.76bn m³ of gas during January-September, up 107% year-on-year, CNPC said in a report October 20.

Shale gas processing capacity at Fuling increased from 5.5bn m³ to 6.5bn m³, the company added.

The first phase of Fuling shale gas field in Chongqing went into production last year. Earlier this year, Sinopec announced it is aiming to produce 10bn m³ of shale gas by 2020 from the field. It further stated that the target is to have production capacity of 15bn m³/yr by that year. Fuling shale gas field’s second phase is expected to be completed in 2017.

China is working on building a substantial shale gas infrastructure. Despite many hurdles, the industry has managed to achieve significant progress in last few years. Its recoverable shale gas reserves last year increased by a massive 109bn m³, from 21bn m³ to 130bn m³ 

The Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) said Chinese shale gas output reached 4.47bn m³ in 2015, up almost 259% year on year. However, last year’s production missed a government target of 6.5bn m³.

Shardul Sharma