Sinopec Makes Large Shale Gas Discovery in Chongqing

Sinopec on Monday said it has discovered a major shale gas field near Southwest China’s Chongqing.

The Fu-Ling field has estimated reserves of 2.1 trillion cubic meters, China’s CNTV reported, adding it's also the first large-scale discovery of its kind in China.

The discovery is expected to speed up larger scale commercial development of shale gas in China.

According to Sinopec’s Chairman, Fu Chengyu, said 10 years can now be cut off from China’s planned development time for shale gas energy.

"Our Fuling project, which will ultimately produce 10 billion cubic meters a year by 2017, will build shale gas capacity to 5 billion cubic meters a year by 2015." Fu Chenyu said.

The discovery of the Fuling field means China’s official target for annual shale gas production, 6.5 billion cubic meters a year, will be easily surpassed, CNTV said.

But Sinopec may be faced with a cash squeeze as it looks to develop the field, according to CNTV.