American shale gas will be imported to Taiwan as early as 2017, our sister paper Commercial Times reported on Feb. 13.

A total of 800,000 tons of shale gas will be imported to Taiwan every year from 2017, said Lin Sheng-chung, president of the state-run oil and gas company CPC Petroleum.

In addition, Lin said CPC is currently negotiating with Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron and Petronas on a plan to develop shale gas in North America. A total of US$1 billion may be invested in a project in which CPC will own an approximately 5% stake.

Lin said the initial shale gas to be imported will be shipped from the state of Louisiana. Future products from the potential North America project, however, will be shipped from the closest ports on the Pacific coast, which would save at least two weeks in transportation time.

"Prices for natural gas go up and down every now and then. US gas is a lot cheaper than from the Middle East so this could be a good deal," Lin said.