Argus: Questions raised over China unconventional gas sector

Beijing's targets for unconventional gas are no longer greeted with the unbridled enthusiasm that they were just a year ago.

China is still working on preparations for the second round of bidding for shale gas blocks, according to Jiang Xinmin, the deputy director of the energy research institute of Chinese economic body the NDRC, speaking today at the Unconventional Oil and Gas Summit in Zhengzhou, China. The second round of bidding has been postponed numerous times as the government body in charge of the bidding, the ministry of land and resources (MLR), finalises policies to support the burgeoning unconventional natural gas industry in China. But more than half the blocks with unconventional resources are already owned by state-owned companies. Those left to be auctioned off are second-rate blocks, according to participants, with more complicated geology and often located far from existing infrastructure.  MORE