China's Second Shale Bidding Round Gets Bids from 83 Companies

China's Ministry of Land and Resources said Thursday that it received 152 bids from 83 companies for 19 of 20 shale gas blocks it offered in its second auction. The ministry also said that almost a third of the bidders were from the private sector.

China offered 20 shale gas blocks in a second tender, with a total area of 20,002 square kilometres in 8 provinces: Chongqing, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, the government said on Monday.

The tender process was open to both Chinese firms and Chinese-foreign joint ventures. These entities should have a registered capital of more than 300 million yuan. The last date for submission is Oct. 25.

First shale gas bidding round was held in June last year where only state owned firms were allotted blocks.