Shale Gas Boom

China produced more shale gas last year, as the world’s largest energy producer and consumer cleans up its coal-dominated energy mix.

Shale gas yield increased 76.3 percent year on year to a record high of 7.9 billion cubic meters in 2016, the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) said on July 10.

A total of 8.79 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) was spent prospecting for shale gas last year.

Breakthroughs in drilling techniques have made China one of the top shale gas suppliers in the world. Only a few countries are able to commercially produce the gas, including the United States, Canada and Argentina.

The China Geological Survey announced on July 7 that a shale gas reservoir has been discovered in Yichang City, central China’s Hubei Province. The area is estimated to have over 500 billion cubic meters of gas reserves.

China’s exploitable shale gas