CNPC has announced that it plans to build China’s first ever pipeline dedicated to transporting shale gas.

The 57 mile long pipeline will run from shale gas fields in the Sichuan province to join with an existing pipeline in the Yunnan province.

The EIA published a report last week that assessed shale reserves around the world, and they allocated the largest reserves to China, with an estimated 1.1 quadrillion cubic feet of shale gas.

According to UPI.com, the CNPC pipeline will have a carrying capacity of more than 150 million cubic feet of natural gas a day.

Due to technological and geological challenges, shale gas in China will not be as cheap to produce as in the US, but the Chinese government are still supporting the industry, which they see as a great opportunity to meet growing energy demands.

Whilst still a young industry in China, state-owned energy companies have been exploring the potential fields in the gas rich province of Sichuan for several years. Analysts at Bernstein Research recently made a trip to China to assess the exploration successes, and state that “flow rates per well were better than we expected with stimulated wells producing 150,000 cubic metres a day. Our recent shale visit to Sichuan has made us more confident in the technical ability of China to be a major shale gas producer.”