China's Shale Gas Reserves Surpass Trillion Cubic Meters

According to the latest official data issued by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MLR) on July 10, China’s crude oil and natural gas exploration are decelerating, that of the coalbed methane (CBM) even eyed backing off in 2017, but the shale gas reserve surpasses one trillion cubic meters.

In MLR’s brief report on China natural resource statistics of 2017, China’s newly added proved reserve of the crude oil reduced from 2012’s 1.522 billion tons to 0.877 billion tons, that of the natural gas reduced from 961 billion cubic meters (bcm) to 555.4 bcm, and that of the CBM reduced from 127.4 bcm to 10.5 bcm. The recoverable reserves of the crude oil, natural gas and shale gas increased by 1.2 percent, 1.6 percent and 62 percent respectively, and that of the CBM dropped by 9.5 percent.

China’s shale gas exploration and exploitation witnessed a great advance in the past five years, citing MLR’s spokesman. As of the end of 2017, the proved geological reserve of the shale gas reached 916.8 bcm, and it officially broke through the one trillion cbm threshold in April 2018. Currently, there are two large-scale shale gas fields in China with capacity over 100 bcm each, namely Fuling Shale Gas Field and Weiyuan Shale Gas Field, which both locate in Southwest China’s Sichuan Basin. China’s shale gas production also exceeded the 10 bcm threshold as well in 2017, contributing great supports to China’s tightening gas supply.