China’s energy regulator, the National Energy Administration, unveiled the country’s first policy for the shale gas industry on its website on Wednesday. It promises to boost financial support for shale gas exploration and extraction.
According to a bulletin posted on the administration’s website, the shale gas industry policy aims to explore shale gas resources in a "reasonable and orderly" way, increase the supply of natural gas, cut emissions, and safeguard national energy security.
In the meantime, Chinese oil giant Sinopec has started to drill shale gas in commercial quantities at its wells in Southwest China. The start of production is expected to bring a breakthrough in the development of the new energy source. The US Energy Information Administration estimates that China holds more than one thousand trillion cubic feet of shale gas nearly double the size of US reserves.
Source: CNTV
