Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Tuesday it had received approval from the Chinese government for its first shale gas production-sharing contract in China, a significant milestone as China looks to tap potentially massive unconventional gas reserves and achieve ambitious shale gas production targets.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Tuesday it had received approval from the
Chinese government for its first shale gas production-sharing contract in
China
, a
significant milestone as
China
looks
to tap potentially massive unconventional gas reserves and achieve ambitious
shale gas production targets.
Li Lusha, a spokeswoman for the Anglo-Dutch company, said the Chinese
government had approved its plan to explore, develop and produce shale gas with
partner China National Petroleum Corp. in the Fushun-Yongchuan block in the
Sichuan
basin.
Word of the government's approval comes more than a year after Shell and
state-oil giant CNPC announced they reached a deal in March 2012 to develop the
shale reserves. The companies haven't disclosed details of the contract, but
the approval suggests authorities in
Beijing
have
developed the regulatory framework needed to spur wider international investment
in developing its shale reserves.
China
is
looking to replicate a boom in North American natural gas production, which has
begun reshaping global energy markets. Chinese companies need international
players such as Shell to lend technology and operational expertise in
extracting the gas trapped in shale rock formations.
Shell Chief Executive Peter Voser told reporters in
Beijing
on
Tuesday that the company was gearing up for what he described as a
"significant drilling season in 2013 and in 2014."
Mr. Voser said Shell and CNPC were continuing to explore which drilling
locations were best-suited for long term development and production, and said
the company was committed to helping
Beijing
achieve its ambitious shale-gas production targets.
China
has
set a target of producing some 6.5 billion cubic meters a year of shale gas by
2015 and as much as 100 billion cubic meters a year by 2020, up from virtually
zero in 2012. That is a target some analysts have been skeptical the country
can achieve.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has said
China
has
an estimated 1,275 trillion cubic feet, or 36 trillion cubic meters, of
technically recoverable shale-gas reserves, more than
Canada
and
the
U.S.
combined. If extracted, unconventional reserves could help alter
China
's
energy profile, which has become increasingly reliant on imported oil and
polluting coal to power its economic growth.
Such massive estimates are sending Shell's international rivals into the market
as well. Chevron Corp., for example, has drilled at least one exploratory well
in China and has plans for more, but company executives have cited a shortage
of geological data and lacking infrastructure as among the reasons it expected
slower progress compared with North America.
Soaring gas production in
North America
has
helped lower fuel prices for chemical production and other industrial activity.
In addition, it has raised the prospect of LNG exports from
Canada
and
the
U.S.
during the coming decade. Mr. Voser reiterated earlier estimates that
U.S.
exports of LNG may eventually hit 50 million-60 million tons a year, but said
he expected much of the
U.S.
gas
to remain at home to be used as a replacement for coal in power generation and
to build up domestic industry.
"I think LNG will be exported out of the
United
States
but I see the volume as being
limited," he said.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:58
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:54
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:32
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:27
Τρι, 17 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 20:01