China Should Not Overdo Shale Gas Development

The chairman of Cnooc Ltd. said Friday that the country shouldn't overdo the domestic development of shale gas, Down Jones has reported.

"China should strengthen research of shale gas exploration, but it shouldn't do it on too large a scale," Cnooc Chairman Wang Yilin said on the sidelines of the Communist Party Congress. He added that due to complex geology of China, it would be much harder to develop shale gas compared with the US.

In another report FT has quoted Yilin as saying the company’s area in the South China Sea could hold 17bn tonnes of oil and 498tn cubic feet of natural gas. He acknowledged the South China Sea was a “relatively sensitive area”, and said Cnooc wanted to “lay aside disputes and develop it jointly” with international companies.

Cnooc’s figures for South China Sea reserves are higher than earlier forecasts from the US Geological Survey, and within the range of previous estimates from China’s Ministry of Land and Resources, FT said in the same report.